


Bite Me

by Aleanid



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Getting Together, M/M, Mating Bond, Supernatural Creatures, Vampire!Tsukishima, sex as a cure, vampire!Kuroo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:02:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 37,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25086586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aleanid/pseuds/Aleanid
Summary: Tsukishima doesn't wear glasses because of his eyesight. It's a lot more complicated than that. But the gist of it is that his gaze has a number of undesired effects. Among them? Sending Weres and Vamps into a sort of mating frenzy.A mishap during the summer training camp puts his powers into the spotlight. The incident is handled quickly and no one is harmed.Except... Kuroo has an unusual reaction and the effects last longer than they should.
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 178
Kudos: 470





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm warning you - on my end, this story is still incomplete. I'm working on it, though, and I have enough written/planned that I should be making steady progress on this and have it finished soon.
> 
> If you have thoughts on what could be improved or where this should go, let me know!
> 
> In terms of context, this obviously strays from canon but, if you try to align it with canon plot, you could set it during the summer training camp, somewhere after Tsukishima goes to ask Bokuto etc. why they care so much about volleyball.

Tsukishima is used to shit being complicated. The world he’s lived in has always been complicated. 

And not because it’s a world filled with supernatural creatures, everything from Fairies and Elves to Werewolves and Goblins. It’s been several hundred years since the existence of such species went from being mere speculation to public knowledge. These days, any given person is as likely to be a purebred Human as they are not to be. 

Of all creatures, however, he had the luck to be born a Vampire. 

It’s not even that Vampires are worse than anything else. Seriously. Ghouls and Zombies need to eat Human flesh to survive, for crying out loud! Somehow, though, the fact that they prefer snacking on corpses has erased most of the stigma against those species. It’s ludicrous. People are okay with sacrificing bits and pieces of their dead-from-other-causes relatives to feed them but Vampires are somehow still cringe worthy.

The whole ‘needing to drink blood to survive’ thing? It’s wildly exaggerated. Sure, it needs to come from a living being but it’s really not that much blood. And it definitely doesn’t have to be Human. Truth be told, Human blood is kind of gross — and Tsukishima wishes he didn’t even know that. (He’d miscalculated and ended up a little anemic during a camping trip. Without enough energy to even attempt hunting down wild game, his brother’s girlfriend-at-the-time had offered to let him ‘have a sip,’ as it were. It had done the trick but no way would he be willing to drink that voluntarily under any other circumstance, and there’s definitely no way he’d drink enough that the Human would be in any kind of danger. Plus, he’s heard enough testimony from other Vamps to know for fact that a Vampire who enjoys drinking Human blood is as rare as a cannibal. Rarer, even.)

But people mistrust Vampires. It’s just a thing. For a bunch of reasons. For one? Vamps are good at manipulating people. Not by any ill will but, between their allure and their keen senses, they know how to read a situation and they have the tools they need to twist it to their purposes. 

Then there’s the night thing. It’s not that Vamps are allergic to the sun or anything like that, as many seem to think, but they _do_ feed off of moonlight. So yeah, they have a reputation for getting up to mischief at night… The moon makes them happy. And energetic. And maybe a little horny. While all that’s true, their reputation is unwarranted. So what if once in a blue moon a couple of Vamps get too rambunctious at night and cause some trouble? Suddenly the whole species deserves to be condemned? It’s the same thing as condemning all Humans just because a few teenagers decide spray painting the town statue seems like a good time.

Mostly though, it’s the fact that, while anyone can manifest secondary powers — powers that are different from those associated with a person’s given species — Vampires seem particularly prone to it. 

Not only that, unlike other species, Vamps don’t seem to have a typical range for what those secondary powers might be. If a Wolf, for example, develops a secondary power, it’s usually telepathic or empathic powers. Other species, like Humans, just don’t develop secondary powers, not unless they’re affected by some sort of spell or have some amount of latent, non-Human DNA. Vamps though? There is no _usual_. Their secondary powers can be anything from the ability to transform into an animal (any animal, even if people seem to like associating them to bats) to levitation or telekinesis. Not to mention, where secondary powers are rare in other species, with Vamps it’s actually rarer if they don’t have one.

Tsukishima supposes he understands why that’s maybe a little scary. It means that when you’re dealing with a Vamp, you’re never sure _exactly_ what you’re dealing with because, while a person’s species is officially registered and public knowledge, secondary powers aren’t. Not in the same way. They’re classified, sure — it’s a 1 to 10 system based on their strength and danger — and it’s also on the public record whether or not a person has a power and what class it is, but the details are kept private.

On the whole, if there’s any one species that people tend to walk on eggshells around… It’s Vampires. 

So yeah, Tsukishima is used to shit being awful by virtue of his species alone.

But then there’s the fact that _his_ secondary power is ridiculous. He hates even explaining it because it’s such a nightmare. And people tend to be wary of him because he’s been officially designated as class 8. The only kinds of power that rank higher would be, say, the ability to brainwash and control a room of people (that’s about a 9), or the power to turn a city to dust (that’s a 10). So yes. 8 is… it’s bad.

It explains why his mother had broken down in happy tears when he’d met Yamaguchi in elementary school. He’s not the first in his family history to exhibit this power and at one point a spell had been enacted to ensure that, whenever someone was born with it, someone else would come into their life with the ability to counter it. Even so, the spell wasn’t perfect. Often, that person had only come along much later in life, causing years of isolation and a boat load of social stigma. In that respect, he’d lucked out. He’d met Yamaguchi, his shield, while he was still too young for his power to be all that strong. 

And thank goodness for that. These days, his powers are a real problem when left unchecked. With Yamaguchi around, though, they’re not really a problem. Except when...

—

It happens in an instant. 

There’s a flurry of motion as the ball drops near the net. Hinata crashes into him. Tsukishima loses his footing a little and he shoots a glance across the net before he can interpret the faint sound of metal and glass getting crushed under someone’s feet.

His glasses have been knocked off by the impact and, from the sounds of it, they are now broken and useless.

“Tsukishima! Close your eyes!” 

That’s Ennoshita. Yelling from somewhere behind him. 

He obeys without a second thought.

This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. It probably won’t be the last. 

He stays stock still — it won’t help much but every little bit counts — and he tries to stay calm. In the absences of his eyesight, he lets his other senses take over. He may have been born with freak eyes but at least everything else works the way it should for a Vampire.

He hears confusion and unease from the team across the net. Unlike his own team, they aren’t aware of what’s happening.

“Nanasawa? You okay? What’s going on man?” 

He goes down the other team’s roster in his mind. Nanasawa… that’s Ubugawa’s #4. He must have been the one to make eye contact but there’s no need to worry. The Human kid will be fine, just dazed for a while. 

“Guys, I feel kinda…” 

A quick sniff — that came from a Wolf. He’s a lesser Wolf though, he shouldn’t get out of hand. Not yet, anyway. There’s no time to worry about him.

The more immediate problem is-

“Daichi.” It’s a choked gasp from Sugawara. From the sound of it, he’s curled up on the floor. There’s a whine he recognizes as being from Shimizu, too, from a little farther away. 

Their team has run drills on this. As they’ve practiced, Ennochita had run out of the gym the second he’d finished giving his warning, and he can sense that Tanaka has sat down and is, uncommonly, still as a board somewhere behind him. Tsukishima’s power is strong, but it tapers off the farther a person gets from him. Whenever Yamuguchi’s shield breaks, those most affected are those in his immediate vicinity — which is why it had been crucial to test what his teammate’s reactions would be and plan for them. 

The thing with Tsukishima’s powers is they affect every species differently. Among the worst? Those affected by the moon (like Weres), Demons, and Feeders. So Vamps, which technically belong to all three categories, tend to experience the most adverse effects.

When they’d tested it on the team, Shimuzu — a Succubus — had had a fairly strong reaction. Among their Weres, Tanaka had also been strongly affected but, after his initial surprise, they’d found he was able to keep his ‘Wolf’ in hand when exposed if he made an effort to stay calm. Predictably, those hit hardest had been his fellow Vamps. 

When it comes to the effects of his ‘aura’ — though he’s always kind of hated referring to it as such — it can be a bit of a coin toss whether a Vamp will be highly affected. Unfortunately, Ennochita and Sugawara, the two Vamps on his team besides himself and Yamaguchi, fell into the category of highly affected.

The Ennochita issue was easy enough to deal with. Since he’d be one of the first to feel it if the shield broke, it had been decided he should yell a warning and get the hell out of the room. More problematic was Suga. 

Among all species, and among all Vamps, those with the most problematic reaction are those like Suga. Omega Vamps. Same as Tsukishima. 

Not only do they feel the effect of his power but they also end up becoming an amplifier for it, like little radio towers repeating the signal to propagate it further. Which just multiplies the problem. And it’s especially a problem when the omega is as susceptible as Suga is — he gets hit so hard and so fast that he can’t get out of the room under his own power.

But they are prepared for this.

“All Vamps, stop breathing!” Sawamura shouts to the gym at wide. All teams have been warned that, if they hear this, Vamps should stop breathing without first taking a deep breath.

Luckily, that’s a fairly good trick. Vamps may be among the worst affected but their slow metabolism means they don’t have to breathe much, which buys some time. It doesn’t do much for those like Suga or Ennoshita who were close enough to have been affected almost immediately, but any Vamp farther away will be little affected if they don’t breathe. 

“Noya, get Suga out of here. Tsukishima?”

Tsukishima continues his assessment of the room. He’s the only one who can, really, because he knows what to look for and, with the other Vamps not breathing and Weres having their focus narrowed to their baser emotions, he’s the only one with senses sharp enough, even if he can’t see. He takes the smallest of inhales, looking to see if anyone is cause for concern. He can’t afford to breathe too much though — he may be immune to whatever it is he emits but he’ll be just as affected as other omegas are by the increase in pheromones he’s causing the other Vamps to release.

For the most part, no one seems to be having too much of a reaction yet. But… 

“Akaashi needs to move across the room. And someone who’s not a Wolf should hold Bokuto down until I’m gone.” He says it quietly. The less he moves and draws attention to himself, the slower the spread. 

Even from here, he can sense the two Fukurodani Wolves have their hackles raised. Akaashi seems to be keeping himself more or less in check but Bokuto is getting antsy and, if he breaks, it will start a domino effect. Sawamura relays his instructions. He doesn’t have to add much more — the other coaches have been told how to handle the situation if it occurred. Tsukishima had rather been hoping it wouldn’t, of course. 

With that handled, his captain and some of the coaches are now huddling nearby, whispering and trying to figure out the next move. Tsukishima listens in without interjecting — again, the less he says the better — but he’s well aware of every second passing. 

“Where’s Yamaguchi?”

“He’s in the other gym for the serve practice. Someone’s already gone to get him.” 

“Should we just wait then? It can’t take more than ten more minutes for him to get here.” 

“You don’t have ten minutes,” Tsukishima interjects. “I doubt you have two. The Wolves are getting restless and some of the Vamps are running out of air. You need to get me out of here, sooner rather than later.” 

“But who—”

“Needs to be a Vamp,” Tsukishima says in a rush. “Preferably an alpha.”

One of the coaches announces they need an alpha Vamp. It’s a little redundant because all Vamps have good enough hearing to have heard when Tsukishima said it himself. His captain does add that, if possible, it should be a Vamp who’s not too affected by moonlight.

The truth is, the real ideal would be a mated Vamp but Tsukishima’s seen the roster of supernaturals here at camp and he knows there isn’t a mated Vamp here. Next best thing is an alpha Vamp.

Unfortunately, it can be tricky, knowing whether a Vamp is an alpha or an omega. It’s not like Wolves where, once they hit puberty, the pheromones they give off on a daily basis are a dead give away. Even though the terminology is the same and the alpha/omega status does refer to similar mating behaviours for both species, it doesn’t work the same way at all. Where Vamps do emit those telling pheromones, that only happens when specific conditions are met, one of which being a full moon. All told, it’s not unusual for a Vamp not to know whether they are omega or alpha right up until they are ready to mate.

Tsukishima’s power, of course, can act as a sort of litmus test, but that’s a needlessly messy way to go about it. With any luck, one of the Vamps here at the training camp will know their status somehow or another. 

Someone must because he hears movement across the gym toward them and Daichi starts to lead him to the exit. He doesn’t dare take a breath to find out who it is following them out. 

He hears it when Azumane, he assumes as per their drills, also follows them out. They’ll need someone to intervene if needed and, reliable as he is, Human Sawamura just isn’t strong enough to hold back a Vamp in a frenzy. His mated Dragon teammate is, though.

“You’re an alpha Vamp?” his captain asks once the four of them are out of the gym.

There’s the faintest rustle and Tsukishima imagines that, whoever it is, must have nodded. 

“Azumane is going to hold you back and you’re going to breath in slowly, okay?” Sawamura instructs. 

It’s the only way to go about it. 

The best option here is for him to be escorted by an alpha Vamp. If, somehow, Tsukishima were to accidentally open his eyes and expose his escort to his full power, it would just cause more trouble if the escort were to become catatonic, or aggressive… or went into a mating frenzy. Of all species, Vamps in general have the most predictable reaction but, since an exposed omega Vamp would just cause the effect to ripple out, that’s out. An alpha Vamp’s reaction, though, would be contained and entirely aimed at Tsukishima so, while an alpha Vamp escort does come with risks to himself, it’s safest for everyone else. Besides, he can handle himself if he needs to.

But not just any alpha will do. Putting the power of his eyes aside, they have to test that this Vamp has a minimum of resistance to his aura or the whole operation will be futile. 

He hears a slow inhale.

“How do you feel?” That’s Sawamura. 

“How am I supposed to feel?” comes a teasing lilt. 

_Great_ . It’s Kuroo. Of every Vamp in that gym, it had to be Kuroo. Whatever resistance the upperclassmen may have, he’s still bound to be feeling some low-grade arousal and releasing pheromones to match. Not that Tsukishima is going to admit it, but, when it comes to _those_ kinds of pheromones, Kuroo is just about the only person in that gym who could truly put his own willpower to the test. 

Sawamura chuckles but stays serious. 

“As long as you don’t at all feel like you’re going to lose control of yourself in any way. And be honest here.” 

“I’m totally in control,” comes the answer. 

His teammates must trust him because he hears Azumane release Kuroo and back away from them by a good 20 feet.

Azumane being mated, he’s a low risk of having a dangerous or unpredictable reaction. But if he sticks too close for too long, he will get affected and go into his heat — which will put him and Noya out of action for the rest of this training camp. 

“Here’s the deal,” Sawamura explains. “Long story short, Tsukishima is a class 8 and he needs to get back to the dorm. He can’t open his eyes until he gets there.”

It’s always weird to hear people talking about him like he’s not there. It’s as if, when you close your eyes, you’re suddenly no longer a person. He doesn’t complain though, it’s kind of easier to let someone else explain since he’s not really in a position to properly gage the other person’s reaction. 

“He can tell you more as you head there but here’s what you need to know: If you see someone on your way there, take the long way around and avoid getting close to them. You obviously have some resistance to his power but, if you can help it, avoid touching him or looking at him directly, and keep breathing to a minimum. It’s better if Asahi doesn’t get too close but he’ll follow at a distance in case he has to intervene. If you start, at all, feeling on edge, tell Tsukishima. And if you feel like you’re losing control of yourself, run. Asahi will take over. Got it?”

“Crystal clear,” Kuroo says. 

Again, Sawamura must trust him because his captain falls back to talk to Azumane briefly before heading back for the gym.

“So how do we do this if I can’t touch you?” Kuroo asks him. He’s being casual, like he’s trying to lighten the mood, but Tsukishima can tell he’s also taking the situation seriously. 

“Just walk,” he says. “I’ll follow by sound.” 

“Roger that,” Kuroo says and starts to move. “So what’s your power, anyway? Do you have laser beam eyes or something?” It’s obviously a joke. Although, in some ways, it’s not too far from the truth either. 

“Not exactly,” Tsukishima mutters. “It’s… complicated. It’s not just my eyes.”

“Obviously,” Kuroo says with a chuckle. “I don’t imagine we’d be doing this whole ‘don’t look at him or touch him’ song and dance if it were. So spill it, four-eyes. Not gonna lie. Your captain’s list of instructions is making me really curious.” 

“You’re supposed to be trying not to breathe,” Tsukishima reminds him, a smirk threatening at the corner of his mouth. “That means you shouldn’t be talking so much.”

Kuroo hums out a sound that’s a cross between acknowledgment and displeasure. The silence that settles is heavy and annoying — if he can’t see and has to limit his breathing, Kuroo’s running commentary is the best gage of the current atmosphere he has.

“Full disclosure,” Tsukishima admits after a moment, because the silence is eating at him, “at this point, you may as well breathe normally. Whatever affect breathing might have, you’ll already be feeling it. Though deep breaths are not a great idea.” 

“Aha!” Kuroo says. “I knew you didn’t mind talking to me! Admit it!”

“I take it back,” Tsukishima says. “Don’t talk, it might kill you.” 

“Nice try,” Kuroo says. “What about the touching thing? Or looking? Is that the same deal as the breathing thing? Cause I’d already looked at you plenty before Sawamura told me not to.”

“No, those instructions hold. The more you look, the more you’ll feel it. And touching is a really, really bad idea.”

“Yeah, that’s not doing much to help my curiosity,” Kuroo chuckles. 

Tsukishima sighs. He has practice explaining but it always takes a second to resolve himself. Reactions to the information are not always pleasant.

“Thing is, I’m sort of a mixed species.”

“Sort of?” 

“Yes. It’s… it goes back a long way in my bloodline. So far back that I’m technically not categorized as mixed but, every few generations, someone in my family is born with a secondary power that’s tied back to that other species.”

“Ah, so you’re one of those rare genetic cases you hear of when people have secondary powers seriously atypical for their species. Like when a Human is born with the power to fly or breath fire or something,” Kuroo says.

“Pretty much.” As a Vamp, of course, there isn’t really _any_ power you can call atypical. But if there was one, it would be his.

There’s a pause and Tsukishima thinks, for all of a second, that he’s successfully derailed Kuroo’s investigation about his power. 

“So what species is it then,” comes next. “Don’t keep me in suspense.”

Tsukishima sighs. “Siren.” Which is a subspecies of Succubus. Which is a subspecies of Demon. And, because Vamps are also technically species in the Succubus branch, it means his Siren powers are tied in with his Vamp allure, which is what makes his stupid power so messy. But he doesn’t get into that.

Kuroo whistles. “Siren. That’s rare. Even as a tiny portion of your DNA. Then I’m assuming your power is basically a Siren lure? One that’s tied to your eyes?”

“Kinda.” 

It’s called a lure because the classic example of the Siren power is that from ancient Greek epics where Human sailors are drawn to their death by the sound of the Siren’s song. Because Sirens are so rare, people don’t usually know much more than that about lures. In truth, the lure only works to draw in a specific type of species, and its effect on other species is varied. To make matters more complicated, not only does the exact trait that constitutes the lure vary from Siren to Siren, the type of species drawn in and the other effects can vary as well. Tsukishima is lucky that the occurrences of this power in his family have been pretty consistent over time, so he knows a lot of what to expect without having to experience it first hand. 

“Kinda?” Kuroo repeats.

Tsukishima takes a minute to gather his thoughts. His power is so ridiculously complicated that, other than listing what people should or should not do around him when the shield is broken, he’s never really sure where to start explaining what, exactly, it is. 

“As a Vampire, I’m sure you’re well aware that Succubi and their subspecies have an allure that draws people to them,” he starts after a moment and Kuroo nods. “Sirens are kind of an exception, they get a lure instead, which works similar to an allure but it’s more focused and, in some ways, more controlled. Because I’m not _actually_ a Siren, though, I don’t have a lure in the classic sense. It’s not as controlled, so I ended up with something like an aura too.”

“An aura that does what exactly?”

“You know how some species are more susceptible to moonlight? Especially a full moon?” Kuroo hums out an acknowledgement. “My aura kind of mimics concentrated moonlight.”

It’s not a perfect explanation. It’s about as simple as he can keep it though. 

“So that’s why the coaches were asking all the Wolves to sit,” Kuroo says, understanding in the tone. “And the whole thing with Bo and Akaashi. Man, that whole pack hierarchy thing can get weird.”

“You’re telling me,” Tsukishima says. 

“But if you’re always emitting this aura, why haven’t we been feeling it until now?” Kuroo asks after a pause. 

Tsukishima was wondering how long it would take him to catch on to that. This part can be hard to understand but Kuroo’s a smart guy so hopefully explaining it will be easy enough.

“It’s because of Yamaguchi.” 

“Freckles?” Kuroo clarifies. 

“Yeah. He also has a sort of aura. One that neutralizes mine.”

“Like they cancel out?”

“In a sense.”

“So far I’m with you,” Kuroo says. “But Freckles wasn’t in the gym just now. Hasn’t been for nearly an hour.”

See, this is why it’s complicated.

“Right, well his aura? He and I think of it as a shield. It doesn’t do anything except, when he’s around me, it’s like it’s constantly building a wall, keeping my aura in. What I’m emitting is constantly trying to fight through the wall but he builds it up faster than my aura can get through. So, when he leaves? Whatever layers of the wall that have already been built stay behind. Eventually, my aura will break through but it takes a while for it to eat through all the layers.”

“How long is a while?” 

Tsukishima may not be able to see but he recognizes that tone of voice. It’s the tone of someone who, while being understanding and recognizing that Tsukishima is not choosing to have this power, also can’t help but think, if he’s so reliant on Yamaguchi to keep his power in check, that it’s a little irresponsible to let the two of them split up for any extended period.

And he understands that concern, understands that this particular situation highlights why it might be better to always have Yamaguchi close at hand, but it’s a little upsetting to have someone assume they’re being selfish or irresponsible for leading separate lives. So his response comes out a little terse. 

“We’ve never really tested the full extent of it but he’s around me so much that ‘a while’ can last several days.”

There’s nothing but the crunch of gravel as they move forward for a few moments. 

“Sorry,” Kuroo says at last. “Maybe that sounded a bit judgy.” 

“It’s fine,” Tsukishima says with a sigh. “I’m used to it. My power is hard to understand and, in the worst circumstance, it can be pretty dangerous. That’s why I’m class 8. So I guess it’s normal for people to be wary or think I’m taking things too lightly. But people hear ‘class 8’ and blow things out of proportion. It’s not that big a deal.” 

“I don’t mean this in a bad way, or anything, I’m just curious, but-” Kuroo pauses as he searches for the right words. “I mean, back there in the gym, you guys were in such a hurry to get you out of there that it seemed like a pretty big deal.” 

Tsukishima grunts. He knows. And in a way, it _is_ a big deal. But also… 

“The thing about my power is that sometimes it causes situations that are messy.” He says. “Those situations, in the very worst cases, can last a while and, okay, if you were to put me in a room with exactly the wrong mix of species, things could get dangerous. But that’s why I’m careful — I always check the supernatural roster to know exactly what I’m dealing with. I wouldn’t walk into a situation that was just asking for trouble.” He takes a breath. “What happened in the gym? If I’d stayed in there any longer, we might have ended up with a couple of brawls, a few people walking around in a daze, some of the feeders may have had a bigger lunch than usual and left some people low on energy, and some Vamps and Wolves may have gone into their rut or their heat. Is all of that annoying and messy? Absolutely. The way a food fight is. That’s why we were in a rush. But it’s unlikely anyone would have been seriously injured.”

“Okay, I get it,” Kuroo says with a chuckle. “Trust me, you don’t have the monopoly on powers people blow out of proportion.” 

“Well I suppose my power has big enough ramification that it’s worth some of that inflation,” he says with a grunt. 

“So, if this wall can last for days,” Kuroo says, waving away Tsukishima’s comment to get back on point. “Why is it suddenly gone?”

Tsukishima sighs again. “That _does_ have to do with my eyes,” he says. “It’s… When my eyes meet someone else’s… the ‘lure’ thing makes my regular ‘aura’ effect go nuclear and the shield breaks. Luckily, as long as someone doesn’t look directly in my eyes, it’s fine — that’s why I wear glasses. But they got knocked off and-” 

“Hold up, are you saying you don’t wear them to help you see? Your vision is 20/20?”

Tsukishima scoffs. “20/20 is putting it lightly. My vision is as good as yours.”

“Sure, sure,” Kuroo says, and it sounds skeptical for some unknowable reason. Tsukishima hears the older boy stop and he stops along with him. “Weirdly, my mind is more blown by this glasses revelation than by your power.”

“Yeah, well…” Tsukishima trails off, not sure how you respond to that. “Point is, with my glasses broken, it's dangerous for me to open my eyes right now and, since I can’t really get to my spare pair alone…” 

“Right,” Kuroo says and they start moving again.

“So, what’s your ‘power that people blow out of proportion’ then?” Tsukishima asks. 

Kuroo laughs. “Damn, I was hoping you didn’t catch on that I meant me.” 

“If you didn’t want me to catch on, you shouldn’t have said anything,” he says easily. 

Kuroo doesn’t answer right away. 

Frustrated with the lack of other cues, Tsukishima chances a slightly more deliberate sniff than he’s been taking. He almost regrets it because, though Kuroo’s demeanour isn’t betraying it, he’s definitely feeling an effect from Tsukishima’s power and his pheromones smell damn good — good enough that Tsukishima is worried about what kind of pheromones he might be letting out now himself in response. But, beyond the arousal, he also smells Kuroo’s uncertainty and reluctance. 

“It’s fine, you don’t have to tell me.” 

Another chuckle. 

‘ _Nah, I guess telling you is only fair.’_

There’s no mistaking it. That response wasn’t out loud. 

“You’re a telepath,” Tsukishima says, shaking his head. “Figures. You like talking so much you found a way to talk even without talking. Great. Now there’s no way to tune you out.” 

“People are usually more worried about the mind-reading thing than the mind-talking thing,” Kuroo chuckles. 

“I told you, I always read the supernatural roster,” Tsukishima says. “It might not say exactly what secondary powers a person has but I know you’re class 2, which means I doubt you can read my thoughts unless I’m thinking them really intensely or I intend you to.” 

_‘Smart boy.’_

_‘So I’ve been told.’_ There’s a snicker in response so he knows Kuroo heard. “But, um,” he continues out loud, “I’ve never really tested how my powers fair with telepathy so, to be on the safe side, let’s try to avoid it.” 

“Got ya,” Kuroo says and then their pace slows. “Careful, we’re going into the dorms now.” Tsukishima can hear him opening the door and holding it open. 

“Thanks.”

“Let’s back up a bit,” Kuroo says, cool air hitting them as they step into the hall and the air conditioning. “What was that bit about you making Vamps go into heat?” 

“You _would_ fixate on that, wouldn’t you?” Tsukishima shakes his head. 

“But seriously, what’s the deal with that?” 

“You’re not seriously telling me you’ve never had sex ed, the Vampire version?” Tsukishima asks. “I already told you, it’s like a moon thing.”

“Yeah, you did say that. But Vamps aren’t like Wolves that go into heat at the drop of a dime whenever the full moon hits and a desired and willing partner is nearby. It’s a whole _thing_ , right? The way Sugawara was acting? It looked a whole damn lot like instant heat, and I’ve never seen an omega Vamp react that way to the moon.”

“I said it’s like _concentrated_ moonlight,” Tsukishima grumbles. “And Suga happens to be a Vamp who feels moonlight more than others. Not to mention that he was close enough when the shield broke to get an extra strong dose.”

“So it _was_ instant heat, then?” Kuroo needles. 

“No,” Tsukishima says. “But almost. I’m pretty sure he got out of there fast enough to avoid a full blown heat. Once someone is away from me, whatever effect I’m having leaves. Except, of course, if something like a heat or rut _does_ properly start, there’s no unringing that bell.”

“Watch your step,” Kuroo tells him as he hears another door opening. “We’re going up the stairs now.”

“Thanks.”

“So what’s the deal with what you said about Feeders then,” Kuroo asks as they start to climb. “As far as I know, most Feeder species - yours truly excluded - aren’t affected by the moon.” 

“No,” Tsukishima admits. “But what do you think happens to a Succubus, for example, when you put them in a room filled with horny Weres and Vamps?”

“Point taken,” Kuroo says, and it sounds a little sheepish. 

“Besides, the moon explanation isn’t perfect,” he continues. “Some species react in ways that have nothing to do with the moon.”

“We’re here,” Kuroo announces. 

Tsukishima takes a second to orient himself — his dorm room must be somewhere to his left. 

“It would help if you opened the door,” he says. 

“Can’t,” Kuroo answers. 

“You can’t,” Tsukishima repeats drily. “Why? You have some moral objection to doors? You’ve been doing fine with them so far.”

“The room is warded, isn’t it?” Kuroo says. Tsukishima opens his mouth to say god knows what — probably some form of confused splutter — but before he can, Kuroo goes on. “It’s fine,” he’s saying reassuringly. “Stigma over the supernatural is gradually lessening but the Vamp stigma is hard to kill and us Vamps have a particularly nasty reputation at night. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen people insisting on sleeping in Vamp warded rooms.” 

Tsukishima stands there a second, processing the words. 

“You think this room is warded against Vampires?” he says after a second. 

“I pay attention,” Kuroo says. “It doesn’t take a genius to notice that only Karasuno has two rooms and, coincidentally, all your Vamps are sleeping in the other one.” Tsukishima snickers but Kuroo doesn’t let him say anything else. “Look, all it takes is one person who’s uncomfortable - and I get it. Maybe it’s your coaches and they just put all the Humans in here and you personally don’t have any issue with-”

“Kuroo,” he finally interjects. “The room isn’t warded. Not against Vampires. Not against anything.”

There’s a silent beat. 

“You’re sure?” 

“I’m positive,” Tsukishima says. “So could you please open the door so that I don’t have to flail around blindly looking for it?”

He hears Kuroo hesitate but move forward. Then he hears a door open and he heads toward the sound. 

“Huh,” Kuroo says. “It really isn’t warded.” 

Tsukishima snickers again.

“You really don’t read the roster, do you?” 

“I don’t need to,” Kuroo says, stepping into the room. “You may not realize it, but Vamps know what species they’re dealing with, even without a roster. We can smell it.” 

“It’s your turn to close your eyes,” Tsukishima says as he enters the room behind Kuroo. “I need to open mine to find my glasses.” 

“Right. Done.” 

“To clarify,” he says, opening his eyes and spotting his bag. “When I said Yamaguchi’s power doesn’t do anything except block mine, I forgot to mention that it also blocks our Vamp scent.” 

“Your… what now?” 

“I smell…” he pauses, “ _smelled_ ,” he corrects, “Human to you, right? What we think of as the Human smell, as it turns out, is actually just an absence of all supernatural indicators. Yamaguchi and I are Vampires, just… he hides the indicators. We don’t know why it doesn’t work with Vamps in general, it just works on him and people in my family. You’ve been trying not to breath in too deeply, so maybe you haven’t noticed, but you should be able to smell that I’m a Vampire by now.”

He hears Kuroo take a careful sniff. “Holy shit.” 

Tsukishima snickers, slipping on his glasses. “Have you been thinking I’m prejudiced against Vampires this whole time? Oh observant one?” 

“Well, not necessarily you… Could have been any of the Humans on the team…” It’s sheepish, he sounds a little guilty but also speculative. “Is there _anything_ about you that isn’t going to blow my mind?” 

“Well, you’ve been pretty open with your criticism of my volleyball playing,” Tsukishima says sourly. “Don’t let these revelations distract you and make you forget that, underneath it all, I’m still just a freshman from a visiting team who’s barely worth your consideration.” 

Kuroo chuckles. “You think I would have asked you to step in and block for Bo if you were ‘barely worth my consideration’? I do think you undervalue yourself and you don’t try as hard as you could. But the mere fact I think that proves I also think there’s something in you that is valuable.”

“You can open your eyes now, by the way,” Tsukishima says awkwardly, changing the subject. Kuroo chuckles again, like he knows he’s deflecting. “Avoid looking at me and stay over there until Yamaguchi gets here if you can, but I’ve got my glasses on so we’re safe from the worst of it.”

“Why _are_ the two of you split in here with the Humans then,” Kuroo goes back to their previous conversation, aiming the briefest of looks toward him before turning and deliberately fixating on the wall. 

“My power is, somehow, restrained while I’m awake,” Tsukishima says. “When I’m sleeping… even Yamaguchi’s power won’t do much against it so I can’t really sleep in the same room as most Supers. On the flip side, it seems to cause Humans and Fae to have a better sleep than usual. That’s why Hinata is in here too.”

“I’d say that makes sense but…”

“I know. My power is ridiculous and makes no sense.”

“So what exactly do your eyes do then?” Kuroo asks. 

“Haven’t you been listening?” 

“I have. Avidly,” Kuroo confirms, nodding. “But that was all about your aura. I’m assuming your eyes do more than just ‘break the shield’,” he uses air quotes and everything, “or it would have been pointless for you to walk here with your eyes closed.”

Tsukishima clicks his tongue. “My eyes are,” he stops. “They’re sorta like a concentrated version of my aura, though they have some additional effects. It’s different for every species. Humans, for example, get off easy and they just go kinda space cadet. Or catatonic for a few hours if they look too long. Also, weirdly, for anyone else with eye-related powers, looking in my eyes seems to cause a reverse effect.”

“So if a Medusa looks in your eyes…?”

“Yeah, they turn to stone,” Tsukishima confirms. “At least, that’s what I gather from our family histories. Just so it’s officially on the record, I’ve never turned someone to stone. Luckily, Medusas are really rare and even more careful about avoiding eye contact than I am.”

“Good to know,” Kuroo says with a chuckle. “But I beg to differ. I’ve seen you glare at Shrimpy. He can get pretty stoney when you do.”

“Are you kidding?” Tsukishima snickers. “I make him shake like a leaf. Last time I checked, stones don’t tremble like that.” 

“Well, they might if-”

“Don’t. If you start on any metaphors about earthquakes or passing trains, or whatever else, I’m going to make you wait in the hallway.” 

Kuroo smirks and chances another glance at him, just long enough to waggle his eyebrows. 

“What do they do to Vamps, then?” 

Tsukishima would rather not broach the topic. The answer tends to make people either way too curious, or mildly horrified. 

“Nothing worth mentioning,” Tsukishima says quickly, toying with his fingernail and glancing to the door, as though it will summon Yamaguchi and end this conversation.

“See, I’m torn,” Kuroo says lightly, his tone and demeanor saying he’s anything but torn. “On the one hand, I’d be tempted to believe you. If they do something dramatic to Vamps, then it would hardly make sense for you to require one as an escort.” 

“That’s quite reasonable,” Tsukishima agrees. “Seems you have an answer right there.” He’s hoping Kuroo will leave it at that and drop the topic. 

But, of course, he doesn’t. 

“On the other hand,” Kuroo continues, with a chuckle and a bit of dramatic flair, “you’re being awfully cagey about the topic, Specs.” 

He even has gall to wink.

And now Kuroo is daring him to respond. Silently. It’s maddening. 

“It’s not that big of a deal,” he tries to say casually. But he knows all he’s done is make it seem like it _is_ a big deal. 

Kuroo’s lips quirk. 

“Seriously, just drop it,” he grumps.

“I didn’t say anything.” 

Kuroo indulges in a three-second stare off before he, pointedly, turns his gaze back to the wall with a roll of his eyes. There’s a blissful minute or so where it looks like the topic has been successfully dropped. Then... 

“Do they cause Vamps to have a sudden compulsion to streak naked across a crowded room?”

Tsukishima raises an eyebrow. “You wouldn’t consider that to be worth mentioning?” 

“Worth mentioning, sure,” Kuroo agrees with a shrug. “But, all told, it’s ‘not a big deal’, right?”

“Hn,” comes a half-acknowledgement. 

“That said, you know I don’t actually believe you when you say it’s ‘not a big deal’.”

“That’s your problem.” 

“You’re getting awfully snippy,” Kuroo says, not even bothering to cover his amusement. His grin is so wide it practically doesn’t fit on his face anymore. 

“You’re getting awfully nosy,” Tsukishima rebuts, trying very hard not to pout. 

Kuroo shrugs again. “Maybe they cause Vamps to develop a sudden aversion to the colour yellow.” 

“I have no response to that.” 

“Oh, maybe they make Vamps go mute!” 

Tsukishima raises an eyebrow. “If that were the case, I’d use it on you right now.” 

“That’s a good point.” Kuroo says. 

They lapse back into silence. And Kuroo, with his good looks and knowing smirk, is wielding it like a weapon. 

“Fine! Okay?” He concedes. And yet, it takes a moment for him to continue. “You know what they say about finding your mate? The feeling you get when the bond takes?”

It’s part of what Kuroo had been talking about earlier when he’d said Vamp heats were ‘a whole thing.’ A Vamp only goes into their heat, or rut, when they are with their mate during a full moon. Usually, that’s after a Vamp has already chosen a partner, claiming bites already exchanged and bond already in place. In rarer cases, when a Vamp comes across a particularly compatible partner by chance during a full moon, a sort of pheromone conversation can trigger a heat or rut, and that ‘bond feeling’ is felt before any claims have been made. A sort of Vamp version of love at first sight… or perhaps, at first smell would be more accurate. But all that is beside the point.

“Sure,” Kuroo agrees, brows furrowed like he already has an idea where this conversation is heading.

“Well, when a Vamp looks in my eyes, that’s what they feel,” he says. “With alphas especially, it seems the sensation makes them think _I’m_ their compatible mate. Combine that with how my ‘aura’ makes Vamps horny and makes them start giving off sex pheromones...”

Kuroo nods absently. Then something in his expression hardens. 

“Wait, so when you asked for an alpha escort that meant…” He glances over briefly. “You were purposely putting yourself at risk?”

“It’s a low risk,” he grumbles. “First of all, we would have needed to make eye contact. And second of all… the ‘bonded feeling’, or whatever, doesn’t make alphas completely lose reason.” And that’s… Well, it’s pretty much a lie of omission because, while it’s true enough that, intense as it is, Vamps don’t lose control from the feeling itself, when it’s triggered by his eyes, control is sometimes a non-existent concept.

“I heard that,” Kuroo says with a frown. If his previous thought had been intense enough for Kuroo to hear, it just goes to show that Tsukishima does actually feel guilty for the deception. “You would seriously be okay with someone accidentally forcing a claiming mark on you?”

“They don’t take if there’s no circle feeding,” Tskushima says with a scowl. “Sure, it would be a pain in the ass until the claim faded. But it wouldn’t be permanent.” 

“‘It wouldn’t be permanent’, he says,” Kuroo scowls right back. “You’d have to endure an awful lot of pain until the claim broke, right? How is that okay?” 

“It’s not,” Tsukishima growls. “But what choice do I have? I didn’t ask for this ridiculous power! None of the other options are better. My eyes make other species aggressive, or unresponsive, or send them into a frenzy, and it’s all so unpredictable and irregular. With Vamps, at least reactions are consistent. If I know for fact the worst that will happen is I’ll be in pain for a while, that’s acceptable. What else would you have me do?” 

The silence stretches out.

“There’s really no better option?”

“My family and Yamaguchi are immune. And mated Vamps don’t have much of a reaction,” Tsukishima tells him. “Those are the only exceptions. Everyone else… I may have said Humans have it mild… There’s at least one account where one of my ancestors caused a Human to go brain dead. Things like that are unlikely but… At least when it comes to alpha Vamps, the person who comes out the worst is me, so that’s… as fair as I can hope for.”

Tsukishima watches the other boy. He seems to have accepted what’s been said but his expression says he’s still cycling through varied emotions. 

“What?” Tsukishima asks eventually, when he’s tired of watching Kuroo seem hesitant. 

“Does it make me a bad person if, despite all that’s been said, I’m still thinking that I want to know?” Kuroo says.

“What bonding feels like?” Tsukishima asks. Kuroo nods and Tsukishima rolls his eyes with a slight smile. “No, it doesn’t. All Vamps want to know. The fact that looking in my eyes gives you a preview… I get it, I’d want to look too.”

Kuroo aims a look at him for all of a second and he doesn’t need telepathy to know the other boy is thinking ‘Would you let me look?’

“Wait until Yamaguchi gets here,” he says, resigned.

In some ways, letting this happen is a bad idea. In other ways… This isn’t the last training camp they have with this particular group, or the last practice match they’ll face against Nekoma. Every person who is braced for his power at its worst? Well, it’s helpful. It would be ridiculous to test every single person here. Testing Kuroo, though, who’s proven to be useful as an escort, could be a good thing. Information is power. It’s how they had known Ennochita was useless for this. 

“I couldn’t help but notice that Ennochita booked it out of the room when your glasses broke,” Kuroo says after a moment.

Tsukishima doesn’t think his previous thought had been that intense, but he can’t help but wonder ‘Did he hear me think about Ennochita?’, and that might actually have been a thought concrete enough for Kuroo to pick it up.

The dark haired teen just rolls his eyes. “No,” he answers. “I just noticed. I’ve been wondering why since it happened, though I guess recent information is a pretty good clue.” 

Tsukishima hesitates. “He’s like Sugawara,” he admits. “The moon affects him a lot. If he stays near me too long, his rut hits. And fast. So, when he looks in my eyes-”

His thoughts flash back to when they’d tested it. It had hit the older boy so strongly that the effect took hold and Yamaguchi stepping in wasn’t enough to cancel it right away. It had taken four supers with extra-Human strength to pull him away and hold him back from Tsukishima long enough for him to calm down. The second year hadn’t been able to so much as look at Tsukishima for a solid month after they’d tested him.

“Okay, I get it,” Kuroo cuts him off a little quickly, probably having ‘heard’ the gist of it. Kuroo seems to be lost in thought, some sort of calculation going on in his mind. “Do you think…,” he starts at length. Then his face contorts into something that’s a cross between a wince and scowl. “I mean, could he have had a strong reaction because he’s actually a compatible mate for you? The whole Vamp bonding and moonlight thing… it’s meant to trigger when you meet someone compatible, right?”

Tsukishima eyes him silently for a moment. There’s a lot that seems to be going unsaid here but he can’t really make sense of it. “Actually, I’ve always thought it was kind of the opposite,” he says. “There’s a lot of studies about Vamps that seem to say that compatible mates exhibit similar reactions to moonlight. Whether it’s because of my power or whatever, moonlight doesn’t seem to affect me much. So, the fact that Ennochita reacts so strongly to me? It seems to suggest we’re not compatible at all.”

Kuroo’s frown deepens. 

Before they can say anything else, the door crashes open. 

“Tsukki!” Yamaguchi yells into the room and Azumane also appears, peering in at them now that it’s safe with Yamaguchi nearby.

“Stay there,” Tsukishima tells his friend, halting him at the door before Yamaguchi’s aura can start having an effect in the room. “He wants to know,” he explains. Yamaguchi doesn’t need any more explanation. He nods, face serious, and takes a few steps back.

“Here’s the deal,” he says to Kuroo. “Looking into my eyes? It’s intense but, if you’re braced for it, it won’t make you completely lose your mind. It can put _me_ into a bit of a trance, though, and I might not be able to look away. So _you_ have to do it. You look, you feel, and you close your eyes. Got it?” 

Kuroo nods, but he’s frowning. Like he’s worried.

“You won’t hurt me,” he assures. “Both Yamaguchi and Azumane are here. If something goes wrong, they’ll run in and pull us apart. Plus, when Yamaguchi gets close enough, he’ll cancel the effect anyways.” 

“Even without Asahi, I _am_ a Vamp,” Yamaguchi agrees, nodding. “Say what you will about my volleyball but, if I need to, I’m strong enough to get between you for long enough you’ll snap to your senses.”

“And if I react like Ennochita?”

“I don’t think there’s much risk of that,” Azumane cuts in for the first time. “We tested the Vamps in our team against Tsukishima’s eyes twice. Once, having been exposed to low-doses of Tsukishima’s power for a while, and once when they were the ones breaking the shield. Both ways, Suga and Ennochita had pretty bad reactions but, when they didn’t also experience the immediate, high-dose of power from breaking the shield, they both snapped out of it as soon as Yamaguchi got close.”

“This whole thing still feels weird,” Kuroo admits. 

Yamaguchi is the one to respond. “Look at it this way,” he says. “Now that you’re aware of what Tsukki’s eyes do, you’re curious, probably enough to be distracted. That can be dangerous in it’s own way. The best way to put that curiosity behind you is to experience it first hand. Plus? Then you’ll know what to expect if something like this happens again.”

Tsukishima gives a single nod in agreement. He doesn’t question that Yamaguchi has managed to piece so much of the current situation together based only on the knowledge that Tsukishima’s glasses broke and Kuroo escorted him back. They’ve been through this shit enough already.

Kuroo thinks it over. Then nods too. “Look, feel, close my eyes. Right?” 

“Right.”

Kuroo steps away from the wall and Tsukishima steps closer, keeping some distance between them. He takes a careful sniff to make sure Kuroo is still feeling his aura and ensuring there will be no wall to break. “Ready?” he asks, satisfied with what he finds.

“As I’ll ever be,” Kuroo answers. 

In a fluid motion, Tsukishima moves his glasses to the top of his head. 

Kuroo gasps the moment their eyes meet and Tsukishima… Tsukishima is confused.

This is one of those times he’s in a trance. But something is different. Usually, when this happens, he doesn’t feel anything, just a sort of emptiness. This time though, he feels pretty normal, just very aware that he can’t turn his gaze away. 

Well, that and his heart is beating really fast. And he feels kind of compelled to move closer and look deeper into Kuroo’s eyes. That’s probably a side-effect of the confusion, though, of him trying to figure out what’s going on. 

“Guys, I can’t close my eyes,” Kuroo says, and it comes out all raspy. Even as he says it, he tries to turn his head away to break the gaze. 

Tsukishima reacts immediately. “No,” he says in a breathy whisper. Before he knows what’s happening, he’s the one that has moved in close to Kuroo at Vampire speed, reaching out a hand to hold Kuroo’s face in place and preventing him from looking away. “Just a little longer.” 

The second skin meets skin, something intense floods him. A desperate, cloying desire. And he’s being flooded with visions, images changing too quickly for him to catch anything except flashes of naked skin. He feels hot. He wants to get closer. Needs to touch more. He’s vaguely aware that Kuroo has stopped trying to turn away now, that his hands are at his hips and trying to draw him even nearer.

He sees them approach from the corner of his eye, aiming for Kuroo to pull him away. Tsukishima hisses out a warning for them to stop, for them not to touch, eyes still locked with Kuroo’s. His hand has moved to Kuroo’s neck, thumb stroking against his pulse point. 

Yamaguchi hesitates a fraction of a second. Then he frowns. And then Yamaguchi makes a decision and tackles Tsukishima instead of Kuroo. 

The second the eye and skin contact breaks, Tsukishima snaps out of it. He frowns, puzzled. Yamaguchi cocks his head at him. He reluctantly lets him go once he sees Tsukishima has stopped struggling and has his glasses back in place.

“Are you okay?” Azumane is asking Kuroo a few feet away.

“Yeah,” Kuroo says. He looks confused and he’s a little flushed, but he doesn’t seem to be lying. “I’m a little dazed but I feel like myself. In control and all that jazz.”

“What happened?” Yamaguchi asks.

“I have no idea,” Tsukishima says. “The trance didn’t feel normal and then, when I touched him… He’s a telepath, so maybe some of what he was feeling transferred?” 

He wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t know how his power would work with telepathy. That’s the only unknown here. What else could have caused this?

Yamaguchi considers that. “I guess you can ask your parents about it when you get home,” he says.

Tsukishima grunts an acknowledgment. That won’t necessarily yield much more information but his parents have been looking into the matter of his powers a lot longer than he has, so it’s possible they know something he doesn’t.

“Well, that was interesting,” Kuroo says with a wink, as Tsukishima and Yamaguchi pick themselves up off the floor. He’s obviously trying to lighten the mood. He turns more serious for a moment to add, “But maybe this means I shouldn’t be your escort if this happens again.” 

Tsukishima thinks that over. Honestly? He doesn’t know enough to say whether that’s true or not. He doesn’t know why this has happened but that also means he doesn’t know what the fall out may have been.

The group shakes off the awkwardness that has fallen over them and heads back for the gym. They get there and find everything seems back to normal. After updating their coaches, the lot of them head back to practice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additionally, here are some things I thought about but didn't really elaborate on in the story:
> 
> \- Vamps do have superspeed. However, they try to avoid it when they can - it can make other species uncomfortable. Also, it's kind of like doing a 100-meter dash: It takes some effort so, since the Vamps in the story are taking part in a pretty strenuous athletic training camp, they aren't about to go wasting their energy for no reason. They also can't do it for that long - Speed across a room in less than a second? Fine. But they can't run at that speed for more than a few seconds.
> 
> \- Yes, different species have different levels of athletic ability. For this reason, gyms and official courts are spelled/warded so that everyone is operating on a fair level. (Lowering or augmenting people's abilities to an equivalent "Human" level.)
> 
> \- In terms of ABO dynamics, the way I see it (in this story) is that terms like alpha or omega describe certain biochemical behaviours (an omega's heat has a periodic factor where an alpha's rut can be triggered by a number of external factors). Whether a person is alpha or omega doesn't necessarily dictate who they should mate or how they should act. An alpha/alpha bond, for example, is just as likely and possible as an alpha/omega bond, or whatever else.
> 
> -Additionally, the terms "alpha" and "omega" are reserved for species that tick off a number of boxes which include: have mating bonds, have certain pheromone signatures, and have at least two distinct mating behaviours. Dragons, for example, don't get classified as alpha or omega. A Dragon's mating period is simply referred to as a "heat " but that has nothing to do with alpha/omega classification and has no bearing on any physiological expectations having to do with omegas.
> 
> If anything else is unclear or you have questions - go ahead and ask! I'll be happy to answer :) (BTW, I'm not too crazy about the summary so, if you want to suggest something better, please do!)


	2. Chapter 2

Nothing else noteworthy happens over the course of the afternoon.

Tsukishima does catch Kuroo watching him several times but that’s not exactly unusual. Ever since the upperclassman had started teaching him about blocking, he’s noticed him watching, probably curious to see how his tips were working out. The expression he’s wearing today as he does it is a little weird though. There’s something in it Tsukishima can’t quite unravel. 

He supposes that’s to be expected. Being exposed to his power can be intense. It’s not something one can casually brush off without a further thought.

What’s weirder is that he can’t brush it off, either. This isn’t the first time he’s exposed someone to his power, or the first time someone has reacted in a not-quite-standard way, so he should be used to the guilt and the unease that comes with that. And he is or, at least, as used to it as is reasonable. There’s something different about it this time, though. The unease is lingering, competing for center stage in his thoughts along with the newly acquired resolve to improve his playing. 

Why it’s lingering? He can’t say. Maybe it’s because, this time, it was a Vamp who’d gone off-script, and that’s never happened. Or maybe it’s just because it was Kuroo, specifically, and he’s finding it hard to ignore that, of all people, it had to be someone that he’s maybe a tiny, little bit attracted to.

Whatever the case, he can’t get it out of his head and now there’s an underlying tension he’s struggling to shake off and he can help wondering if Kuroo is feeling the same. 

Despite all that, he is caught off guard when Kuroo knocks on their dorm-room door late that evening and asks to speak with him. Sawamura frowns and looks worried, heading out with him and signalling for Yamaguchi to come too. 

Once they’re in the hall, they notice that Kuroo is not alone. 

Kenma is with him, his hand firmly wrapped around Kuroo’s forearm. Tsukishima’s gaze is stuck on that hand and Kuroo notices. 

“He’s an empath,” he says, as if it’s an explanation. “He’s here because... Actually-”

He cuts himself off and looks at Kenma. There must have been some silent communication going on there because, after a second, Kenma nods and slowly starts peeling his hand away, one finger at a time, as if he’s trying to ease Kuroo out of whatever emotional state he’s induced. 

Kuroo frowns and takes a steadying breath before nodding at Kenma and relaxing his expression. 

“What’s going on?” Sawamura asks after a moment.

“It’s about what happened earlier today,” Kuroo says, looking at Tsukishima. “First things first, what you said about Freckles cancelling out your aura? Is that… I mean… It’s working again, right?”

“Yes,” Tsukishima answers. He’s been in a gym with a mix of supers all afternoon. If Yamaguchi’s shield wasn’t working, he’d definitely know about it. 

“That’s what I thought,” Kuroo says with a nod. “I mean no one was-,” he cuts himself off and shakes his head. “Uh… Well… Thing is… For some reason, um... I still feel it?” 

There’s a pause.

“What?” Tsukishima says. 

“Yeah,” Kuroo says, a hand going to the back of his neck. “I don’t feel it as much as I did when I walked you to the dorms but… yeah, I can feel it.” 

Yamaguchi and Tsukishima sniff the air and frown. Kuroo is definitely emitting the combination of pheromones Tsukishima’s power tends to stimulate in alphas. It’s faint though. There’s no guarantee Tsukishima is the cause of it. 

“Are you sure?” Sawamura asks, probably following the same reasoning, even if he hasn’t been able to ascertain Kuroo is emitting anything at all. “Maybe it’s just an echo of the feeling? Because you remember what it felt like or something?” 

That’s possible. If this was sometime in the hour or so following the event, it wouldn’t be all that surprising. This long after the fact, though, Kuroo would likely have to be actively trying to relive the memory to emit pheromones at this level, however low it may be. 

“Pretty sure,” Kuroo answers. “I mean, I agree with you. That’s what I thought it was at first. But it didn’t go away, not until I went outside. Then, when we were in the same gym for free practice… I thought maybe suddenly seeing him again had triggered the memory… but it’s been too consistent. When I’m away from him, there’s nothing there. Then, the closer I get, the more I start to feel it again…” 

“Okay,” Tsukishima says with a frown. It definitely sounds like he’s causing this, but how? This has never happened before. 

“Am I the only one who noticed he said ‘First things’ earlier?” Yamaguchi asks.

“No, I noticed,” Sawamura says, crossing his arms. 

“I was hoping I had imagined that part,” Tsukishima mutters.

Letting Kuroo look into his eyes should have been safe. He doesn’t let people test it out recklessly, and a Vamp shouldn’t be having such an odd reaction, especially one that has lasted so long. Why did this have to turn to shit?

Oh right, because Tsukishima’s life is complicated. Just when he thinks he’s got a handle on things, his power has to go and throw him for yet another loop. 

“Well?” Sawamura asks when the silence stretches on too long. 

“Uh,” Kuroo says a little awkwardly, then he glances at Tsukishima again. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my head.” 

Tsukishima’s frown deepens. “Like, my thoughts? Are you picking them up more easily than usual or something?” 

Kuroo shakes his head. “No, as far as I can tell, my power is working normally. I just mean I can’t stop thinking of you. Again, at first I thought it was just expected that I’d be even more aware of you because of what happened but… I don’t really know how to explain it just… My eyes follow you more than normal and I find myself wanting to move closer to you, or if you’re not around, I’m wondering what you’re doing...”

“Are you sure that’s not just-” Sawamura starts, then cuts a look at Tsukishima before looking back at Kuroo. 

He stays silent for a moment and Tsukishima starts to suspect that the two captains are conversing silently. When Kuroo turns pink and Sawamura rolls his eyes, he’s sure of it. 

“See, I knew your telepathy was going to be annoying,” he says with a scowl. “Look, whatever it is you’re chatting about, if I’m doing it, I need to know about it.” 

“Sorry,” they say together.

“He was just asking if I’m sure the thoughts are because of your power and not because I suddenly realized I have a crush,” Kuroo says.

“It did sound a little like a confession,” Yamaguchi agrees with a little smile. 

“Trust me Freckles,” Kuroo says with a chuckle. “That’s not how I do a confession. I have more flair than that.” He winks.

Tsukishima gags. “Spare me. Can we get back on track here?” 

“If it’s a question of Kuro’s emotions, I’m pretty well versed,” Kozume cuts in. He’s remained quiet the whole time, probably reluctant to jump into something so messy. One look at him and, despite his impassive face, it’s clear he’s worried about what his friend is going through. “I know what it feels like when he’s suddenly aware of a crush. Or when his curiosity gets the best of him and he can’t let go of something. This was different. Worrying.” 

“It got really intense,” Kuroo admits. “I was getting kinda… desperate to go find you.”

Kozume nods. “He was panicking. Usually, I’m pretty good with that, too. If I touch someone, I can unravel a person’s anxiety and let them be calm for a while. But with Kuro, every time I took my hand away, it was back right away. That’s irregular.” 

“And now?” Yamaguchi asks. 

Kuroo stops to think about it, trying to answer as accurately as he can. 

“I feel mostly okay,” he admits. “A little on edge but it’s tolerable.”

Kenma gives a short nod like he agrees with the assessment. 

Tsukishima frowns and, on a whim, he asks, “Can I test something?”

“Sure,” Kuroo says, as confused as the rest of them seem to be. 

“Can you nuzzle him?” he asks Yamaguchi. He can’t test it with anyone else. Sawamura is not a Vampire and Kozume is too close to Kuroo to serve as a proper control test.

The request surprises the shorter boy but he nods and steps towards Kuroo. He stops for a moment, checking with his eyes that Kuroo is still okay with this. Kuroo simply tilts his head back to give him access. 

Permission granted, Yamaguchi moves in and briefly nuzzles Kuroo before moving away a few steps. 

“Anything?” Tsukishima asks.

Kuroo shakes his head a little, brows furrowed. “I feel the same as before,” he says.

Tsukishima nods and he steps forward. Kuroo’s head tilts back the moment he’d started moving. Then it’s his turn to nuzzle, nose gently pushing against the soft skin on Kuroo’s neck. His nose wrinkles at the faint scent of Yamaguchi he finds there, even as he recognizes it as familiar and non-threatening. He lingers a little until he’s satisfied his own scent has overwhelmed any others that had been there before. 

This type of casual contact might seem overly intimate to Humans, but it’s not so odd for a Vampire — scents and pheromones play such a huge role in their social interactions. It is, however, odd for  _ him _ . Because of his powers, he’s always wary about too much skin contact or scenting of any kind. He puts that out of his mind, though. He has a theory to test. 

And Kozume proves his theory right. 

“He’s completely calm now,” Kozume says. 

Tsukishima steps back and away, then he looks at Kuroo. It’s subtle, the older boy is talented at showing a calm facade after all, but he does look more at ease then he had. It’s just a little bit of tension gone from his shoulders, the slightest tightness now absent from his face. 

“Does this mean you know what’s happening, then?” Yamaguchi asks him.

“No. I just had a feeling that would work.” Tsukishima’s frown deepens and he tightens his lips. “Guess I should call my parents,” he adds. 

He turns toward the dorm room to collect his phone but Kuroo hand snaps out lightning fast to grab his wrist and stays him. He looks back at Kuroo curiously, and the older boy also seems surprised by the action. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that,” he says, releasing him. 

Tsukishima nods and hurries to grab his phone. 

A dozen or so minutes later, Sawamura has found them a quiet classroom they can use. He then excuses himself to give them some privacy. Kozume stays — he offers quiet support that helps keep Kuroo calm. Yamaguchi also stays, for obvious reasons. Tsukishima is glad for the obvious reasons because it means he doesn’t have to admit that having his childhood friend there is also keeping  _ him _ calm.

The four of them crowd around one of the desks and sit. He keys up his home number and hits dial, putting the phone on speaker as it starts to ring.

_ “Who died? Did you kill them? Do I have to come help bury the body?”  _ his mom says when she answers the phone. She’s teasing and Tsukishima rolls his eyes. Kuroo and Yamaguchi snicker.

“Why is it you assume the only reason I’d call you is because I’ve murdered someone?” he grumbles. 

_ “Kei. Sweetheart. I love you to pieces but we both know there’s no way you’d be calling me from that training camp, at this hour, unless something Serious has happened.”  _ Tsukishima can hear the capitalization. 

If he were anyone else, he might wonder why his mother sounds so cheerful while assuming something bad is going on. He knows this is her default setting though. He also knows  _ she _ knows that being too serious at a time like this is the best wait to make him shut down. She’s a lot like Kuroo in that sense, perpetually cheerful — not because they don’t sense the gravity of a situation but because they are aware that highlighting the fact can make things worse.

“You’re on speakerphone,” he tells her. “I’m here with Yamaguchi and two of the players from Nekoma.”

_ “Tadashi, hun. Camp treating you well?”  _

“Yes, ma’am,” Yamaguchi responds dutifully with a smile. 

_ “And Nekoma…” _ Tsukishima can easily picture her tapping a finger on her chin as she thinks about it.  _ “Oh wait!”  _ He’s pretty sure he’s not going to like what’s coming.  _ “That’s the team with that handsome, dark-haired captain, right? The one in the photo Tadashi showed me?” _

“Jesus Christ,” Tsukishima mutters. 

Yamaguchi stifles a giggle behind his hand. 

“Kuroo Tetsurou. Handsome captain at your service,” Kuroo introduces himself with a smirk. “My friend Kenma is also here.” 

_ “Pleasure to meet you both, _ ” his mother replies.  _ “Now what can I do for you boys?” _

Tsukishima braces himself and the other three watch him. 

“Do you know if my powers have any unusual effects when it comes to telepathy?” 

_ “Telepathy?”  _ she repeats.  _ “I assume we’re talking about one of you Nekoma boys?”  _

“Yeah, Kuroo,” Tsukishima tells her. 

_ “Kuroo, what species are you, hun? Wolf?”  _

“No, ma’am. I’m a Vampire.” 

His mother hums quietly to herself as she gives it some thought.  _ “And your telepathy, how does it work? Do you need to maintain eye contact?” _

“No.” 

She makes another quiet sound.  _ “I’m afraid nothing is jumping to mind. I don’t recall anything, in particular, having to do with telepathic Vampires but I can look into it. Why don’t you boys tell me what’s happened? Maybe I can find some more information for you.” _

Tsukishima sighs. He’d been hoping against hope to get the information they needed without getting into the details and causing his mother to worry. So far, she still sounds calm but he has enough experience to know that anything having to do with his powers, especially if he’s hinting that it’s unusual, tends to make her nervous.

“My glasses broke at practice today,” he admits. 

He hears her gasp.  _ “Is everyone oka-” _

“Everyone is fine, mom. Just, something happened when Kuroo took me back to the dorm to get-”

_ “Something like what, Kei? Is he an alpha? Did he-” _

“No!” Kei interrupts. “Would you let me finish? And calm down, I already told you everyone is okay.” 

Well, there’s still a bit of a question mark about whether or not Kuroo is okay but, from the looks of it, he doesn’t appear to be in any immediate danger.

His mother takes a deep breath.  _ “Okay,” _ she says.  _ “What happened?” _

“Everything went smoothly and I got my glasses. Then, we decided it would be a good idea to test him against my eyes and… I dunno, it was weird.”

There’s a beat of silence.  _ “Weird how?” _ his mother presses gently.

He sits there, gaping a little, because he doesn’t know where to start. 

“I couldn’t close my eyes,” Kuroo steps in after a second. “And when I tried to turn away…” 

“I wouldn’t let him. I couldn’t really control it, I moved toward him… Then there was like a rush of heat and… want…” He flushes at having to admit this to his mother. 

_ “Because you touched him?”  _ his mother asks. There’s something knowing in the tone, now.

“I couldn’t help it,” he says. “I just… I didn’t want him to look away.”

_ “Kuroo,”  _ she continues.  _ “Do you feel the effects of his power now? Even with Tadashi around.” _

“A little, yes,” Kuroo admits.

_ “And what happens when you’re away from my son?” _

“I end up getting really anxious. Really desperate to see him,” he admits, as easily as if he’s talking about what he’s had for dinner. 

_ “But you’re not in pain?”  _ his mother asks, concern underlying the question. 

“No,” Kuroo says in a rush. “I mean, it was really overwhelming after a couple of hours apart, but I wasn’t in pain.”

_ “Good. You must not have looked into each other’s eyes for that long.”  _

“We jumped right in and split them apart,” Yamaguchi assures her. “The whole thing couldn’t have lasted longer than ten seconds.” 

Had it only been that long? It had felt a lot longer. 

“Wait. So you know what’s going on, then?” he asks his mother. 

_ “Yes, I have a pretty good idea,” _ she says.  _ “First, let me assure you this is no one’s fault. Kuroo, it has nothing to do with your telepathy. And Kei, Tadashi… neither of you could have known this might happen. If anything, it’s my fault.” _

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Kuroo says.

_ “That’s sweet of you to say,”  _ she tells him.  _ “Truth is, when we found out this particular effect was possible, Kei was at an age where he was really curious about his power. We decided it was for the best if we waited to tell him about this until he was a little older. When it comes to your kids, however, they often seem a lot younger and less mature than they really are. Telling you about this is probably overdue.” _

“Telling me about what, exactly?” Tsukishima asks, getting a little antsy.

He startles when Kozume, who has been remaining still and silent so far, reaches across the desk and lays a couple of fingers against his wrist. He starts relaxing instantly. When Kozume moves his hand back into his lap, Tsukishima feels calm again. 

“Thanks,” he mutters to the other boy, who just nods in return.

_ “You know that, with Vampires, your eyes have the power to mimic the feeling of a bond,”  _ his mother starts.

“Yes.” 

_ “Truth is, in rare cases, instead of mimicking it, they trigger a bond instead.” _

The four of them look a little stricken and it takes a moment before anyone can say anything. 

“Mom,” Tsukishima says, and it comes out a little strangled. “You’re not saying that we… That Kuroo and I are now-”

_ “No, you’re not bonded,”  _ she interrupts. The statement floods him with relief. The last thing he would ever want is to saddle Kuroo with a false bond. One he hadn’t chosen, or wanted. One with someone he wasn’t actually compatible with, someone he wasn’t meant to be with. 

_ “You were separated before it could be completed,” she continues. “You’ll both feel some effects from that but, unfortunately, the one who is going to bear most of the effects of this uncompleted bond is Kuroo. Luckily, it sounds like the process was interrupted quickly enough to spare him the worst of it.” _

“Okay,” Tsukishima says, head still reeling. He looks at Kuroo who appears to be feeling much of the same things he is. “Okay,” he repeats, taking a breath. “What happens now? How long until the partial bond fades?” 

His mother hesitates.  _ “It could be months,”  _ she says at last. 

And the four of them are gawking again. 

_ Months _ ? He can’t do that to Kuroo! He’ll be studying for his finals and for his university entrance exams soon. And it’s his last chance to make it to Nationals. If he can’t be apart from Tsukishima for more than a couple hours at a time, then what? What is Tsukishima going to do? He and his stupid powers can’t possibly get in the way of all that. That’s just not fair!

Kozume is quickly in action and thank god he had stayed with them. In a second, he’s got a palm curled around one of Tsukishima’s arms and one of Kuroo’s. A few moments later, once he’s judged they’ve calmed down enough, he stands from his chair, reaches up to tilt Kuroo head back and Tsukishima doesn’t even need the pointed stare to get the cue. 

He’s out of his seat and nuzzling into Kuroo’s neck in a split second. He knows this is the only thing that will keep either of them grounded right now and the knowledge is so crystal clear in his mind he doesn’t even have room to feel embarrassed. 

He’s vaguely aware of it as Kozume moves over to Yamaguchi and lays a finger on his arm for a few seconds.

_ “You boys okay?”  _ comes his mother’s voice. 

“We’re fine,” Kuroo says.

“Is there nothing we can do?” Tsukishima asks.

_ “I’m glad you’re both remaining calm about this,”  _ she tells them, but she sounds a little surprised. 

“Kenma’s an empath,” Kuroo explains with a chuckle. “He’s working double-time right now.”

_ “Oh, well I’m glad for that,”  _ she says. It sounds like she’s smiling.  _ “Look, before you start panicking too much about the immediate future,”  _ she adds.  _ “I remember there being a spell to break the partial bond. It will take me a couple of days to track it down but I can get it to you boys before your camp is over.” _

“Okay,” Kuroo and Tsukishima say together. What else can they say?

_ “In the meantime, Kuroo, I’m afraid you’ll have to put up with my son,”  _ his mother says with a chuckle. 

“You make it sound like that’s difficult,” Kuroo teases.

_ “You make it sound like it isn’t,”  _ she teases right back. 

“Who’s side are you on, anyway?” Tsukishima grumbles. 

_ “My side, obviously,” _ his brother’s voice says, teasing and coming through the phone faintly, as if from the background. He hears his mother chuckle, and his father too, though it’s a little quieter. Tsukishima’s not really surprised to know they’re on speakerphone — his father and brother are also well informed about his powers and it makes sense that she’d ask them to listen in too, in case they can fill out any details she can’t. 

_ “Jokes aside, as you’ve already discovered, you’ll find it difficult to be apart for long. Kuroo especially, but that goes for the both of you. If you have to be apart long enough to start feeling anxious, you should be able to calm down from scenting or physical contact. Kei, as much as you hate that kind of thing, I’m afraid you’re going to have to put Kuroo first until this is resolved.”  _

Tsukishima rolls his eyes. 

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” Yamaguchi snickers. Tsukishima’s abruptly aware that he’s essentially curled up in Kuroo’s arms right now. Then, he’s horrified to notice Yamaguchi is holding up his phone. “It’s adorable. I’ll send you a picture,” Yamaguchi tells his mom. 

And Kuroo just smiles. Traitors. All of them. 

Well, except for Kozume. He still has points from being so quick on his feet throughout this whole conversation.

His mom giggles then jumps back in with advice.  _ “The time you can spend apart will gradually increase but, for now, I’m afraid you’ll also have to sleep in the same room,”  _ she says.  _ “Before you ask, it should be perfectly safe. Even though it’s only a partial bond, it will give Kuroo enough immunity to Kei’s powers to prevent the worst of the effects, even while he’s sleeping.” _

She adds in a little more information that’s not of great consequence, then she and Kuroo exchange a few pleasantries.

_ “Kuroo,”  _ she says then.  _ “I won’t ask this of you if it will cause you discomfort, but do you think I could have a moment to chat privately with my son?” _

“Of course,” he tells her, smiling even though she can’t see it. He turns to Tsukishima. “I’ll get my sleep things and meet you guys back at your room, alright?”

Tsukishima nods and he and Kenma make their exit.

“Do you want me to go, too?” Yamaguchi asks quietly. Tsukishima gives the slightest shake of his head. 

“They’re gone but Yamaguchi is staying,” he tells his mother. 

_ “Alright,” _ she says.  _ “Listen, there’s a little more to this thing than I shared before. Kuroo deserves to know too, of course, but you should be the one to tell him.” _

“What is it?”

_ “I may have implied that this occurrence is rare but random,”  _ she starts.  _ “That’s not really the case.” _

Tsukishima frowns. “If it’s not that rare, you really should have told me about it sooner,” he says. “I could have put a lot of people in harm's way.” 

_ “Kei.” _ It’s his father this time.  _ “This occurrence is exceedingly rare. But it’s not random.” _

_ “We’ve told you that, when it comes to finding a mate…”  _ his mother is struggling to get the words out. 

“Yeah, you told me it would probably never happen. That my powers make compatibility with other Vampires a near impossibility,” he says. 

He remembers that conversation. In a way, it was a blessing that his parents had decided to share that piece of information when he was too young to fully understand the implication. It’s given him a lot of time to come to terms with it. 

It still kind of sucks, if he lets himself think about it too much. Vampires mate for life and the bond mates share is special, so much so that the reality of it can’t easily be put into words. So it sucks to know he won’t get that, but most species don’t exhibit that kind of partnering behaviour anyways. Hell, he wouldn’t even be the first Vamp to knowingly forgo a proper bond. Interspecies mateships may be more uncommon than the alternative because the whole pheromones thing plays an important role in Vamp attractions, but it’s not unheard of. Actually, interspecies bonds are meant to take a lot more easily -- the bond just ends up being a faint echo of what it could have been with a Vamp. So, just because he won’t get to experience Vampire-style happily ever after, doesn’t mean he can’t fall in love or have a family.

That said, whether he even wants any of that is a completely different issue.

_ “Yes, it’s a near impossibility,”  _ his father agrees.  _ “But not impossible. The truth is, much like the spell that is responsible for Yamaguchi being in your life, another spell was cast many generations ago. One of our ancestors, seeking to better the odds of finding a suitable mate, gave themself a way to find one.”  _

Tsukishima tries to work through that. His father had said it wasn’t random so… 

Is it possible this has happened because he has a stupid, tiny, little bit of a crush on the Nekoma captain? Is that what activated the spell?

“They cast a spell to force a mating bond?” he asks a little sourly. If his suspicions are correct, then this stupid spell is selfish and awful. Had one of his ancestors really sought to twist fate like that? To keep someone away from a shot at a proper mateship just by virtue of having feelings for that person? “Are you saying this is my fault? I hurt him like this just because I-”

He can’t even get through it. 

_ “Sweetheart, no,”  _ his mom says, understanding what he means even if he hasn’t given her much context.  _ “The spell isn’t meant to force anything. It’s meant to let you know if you come across the near impossible. It gets triggered when you look into the eyes of someone who is compatible with you.” _

Tsukishima breathes. Then breathes again. Then Yamaguchi reaches to hold his hand and he doesn’t even bother to snark about it.

_ “There’s more,”  _ she adds, reluctantly. 

_ “The spell your mother mentioned, the one that will break the partial bond?”  _ His father pauses.  _ “I’m afraid it’s permanent, son. If you cast it, the pair of you will never be able to form a mating bond with each other, even if you were to want to in the future.”  _

Yamaguchi’s hand squeezes his and Tsukishima is clenching his teeth, pretending that there aren’t tears threatening at the corner of his eyes. 

“You’re saying that if we go through with this, I’ll have just thrown away my only chance at having a proper mate,” he says. “But at least he-” his voice catches. “He’ll still have every chance of finding someone else, right? I wouldn’t be taking that away from him.” 

_ “Yes, that’s likely true,” _ his mother says. 

“Then I don’t really have a choice, do I?” he says, angrily wiping away a tear with his thumb. “I can’t just let him suffer through a fading bond for months. So what’s the other option? Mate with him now? We barely know each. We’re in high school. We live in different cities. That won’t-... He wouldn’t want-”

_ “Kei,”  _ comes his brother’s voice.  _ “It’s admirable that you’re trying to shoulder all the hardship and put him before yourself, but you can’t decide this without talking to him first. That’s not fair to either of you.” _

His parents and Yamaguchi make a sound of agreement.

_ “We love you and we’ll do everything we can to help you through whatever choice you make,”  _ his mother adds.  _ “But don’t make this choice lightly. And don’t assume you know what’s best for him better than he does.” _

His family does their best to turn the conversation light again so they can leave things off on a better note. 

By the time the conversation is wrapping up, he feels somewhat better but the stupid stinging in his eyes is persistent and he’s not ready to go back to the dorm. Thankfully, Yamaguchi is ahead of him.

Who exactly it is he’s been texting for the past few minutes, he’s not sure, but seconds after the phone call ends, Kozume comes back into the room. He walks over, doesn’t question why Tsukishima is wiping away the few tears that have escaped, just lays his palm flat against his arm and eases the desolation away. 

Tsukishima knows Kozume isn’t really doing this for him. Maybe he is a little bit, but mostly it’s for Kuroo. He’s doing it so that, when he sends the kid his best friend accidentally bonded with back to him, he’ll be in a stable enough emotional state to prevent things from getting worse. 

He thanks Kozume when he steps away. 

The older boy looks him squarely in the eye for a moment. 

“It’s none of my business what made you feel that way,” he says. “But if they told you something that concerns Kuro, you better not be planning to keep it from him.” 

“I’m not,” Tsukishima says honestly. “I’ll tell him. It’s…” It’s nothing bad, he wants to say, to reassure this boy, who’s been nothing but helpful tonight, that he has no intention of hurting his friend. He has to pick better words, though, because Kozume is an empath and he’ll know if he’s lying. “It’s complicated but it’s nothing that will hurt him.” 

_ ‘It’s just going to hurt me,’  _ he thinks.

Kenma must believe him because he doesn’t linger, just nods and heads back to the Nekoma dorm. 

Once Tsukishima and Yamaguchi make it back to their own dorm, they find Sawamura waiting for them. Kuroo isn’t there yet, which is a little surprising because the conversation with his parents should have given the Nakoma captain plenty of time to make his way over. Then again, much as their captain feels the need to watch over the team, Kuroo probably needed to spend some time filling his vice-captain in on the situation and making sure he was up to the task of watching over the team in his place.

“So?” Sawamura asks Tsukishima.

Yamaguchi excuses himself and moves toward his bedroll.

“Apparently some kind of connection formed between us,” he says. He deliberately avoids the use of the word bond because even Humans know that a bond between Vampires refers to something specific. “My parents know what happened and they’re looking into a spell that will fix things. It should be resolved by the time we have to head home. In the meantime, Kuroo is going to be sleeping in our dorm.”

“Is that safe?” the captain asks. “I mean, isn’t there a reason Karasuno has two-”

“According to my parents, it should be,” Tsukishima interrupts. “He’s meant to have some sort of resistance now.” 

He fills Sawamura in on a couple of additional details, including the fact that he and Yamaguchi have discussed the potential risks of this sleeping arrangement and that Yamaguchi has agreed to stay awake and on guard until he’s sure Tsukishima’s power will not have a bad effect on Kuroo while they’re asleep.

They’re just finishing up their quiet discussion when Kuroo makes his appearance, his bedroll and pillow tucked under his arm. 

“I take it you’ve been caught up?” he asks Sawamura with a raised eyebrow. 

The Karasuno captain grunts an acknowledgement. 

“Don’t treat this as an excuse to sow trouble in my team,” he warns. The hint of a smirk on Sawamura’s lips says he doesn’t actually suspect the Nekoma captain of any ill intent. 

“I’d never,” Kuroo answers with a wink. “We’re going to beat you guys fair and square.”

They stare each other down for another second before the trio enters the room.

It had been late enough the first time Kuroo had stopped by, so it’s no surprise that the lights are now out and most of the team is already asleep. They make quick work of setting up Kuroo’s makeshift bed and moving Tsukishima’s so they can lie next to each other. 

“We need to talk about this,” Kuroo whispers to him, once they’re both settled in.

Tsukishima is wearing his sleeping mask, which Kuroo had teased him about for all of a second until Tsukishima pointed out that he didn’t have much choice if he was sleeping in a room full of people. As slight of a risk as it was, he couldn’t chance that he’d open his eyes as he woke and find himself looking into someone else’s. His mask is even enchanted to prevent it from slipping while he sleeps. 

“Mmm,” Tsukishima agrees, eyes already closed. “Tomorrow. I’m tired.” 

Kuroo chuckles. “Yeah, I’m tired, too.”

With so much on his mind, he’d have thought it would take him longer to fall asleep. The emotional roller coaster he’s been on has taken its toll, though, and he’s exhausted. 

_ ‘Goodnight,’ _ Kuroo says in his head and, just like that, he’s asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -_- So, after a chapter that's a lot of dialogue to explain the premise and the mechanics of this world, here comes another chapter that is... a lot of dialogue to continue explaining the mechanics and the premise. ;) 
> 
> I swear, the next chapter has more plot! And, while not quite earning the E rating yet, things are getting a little more heated! 
> 
> More things that I thought about but didn't elaborate on in the story:  
> \- You may ask 'Hey, so his sleep mask is spelled not to slip off, why not do something similar to his glasses?' Well, there's a couple of reasons. For one, spells work better on organic materials - glasses being made of glass, metal, and plastic, they don't lend themselves well to spells (though there's some precedent for containment spells on glass and crystals). For another, because of historic reasons, creating spells is a bit of a lost art - mostly, practitioners rely on old spells and people capable of creating new ones are rare and charge a lot for it. Plus, there's the fact that the spell on the mask is blindfold magic - it's intent is to prevent people from seeing so, even if the glasses were to be made primarily of wood, or something, the same spell wouldn't work. Basically... just don't think too much about it. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys... this is so late! It was meant to be out last weekend but (not that anyone cares about my excuses) I had to rewrite a section of this about 5 times until I was marginally satisfied! Plus... you know... life... 
> 
> All that to say, to those few people who I told this would be out sooner, I'm sorry! It's out now! Enjoy!

Tsukishima wakes up feeling well-rested, more than he would have expected after spending a night sleeping in a crowded and unfamiliar room. 

The previous day’s events come back to him almost immediately but he’s not feeling much distress about them. Maybe because his hand has somehow ended up in Kuroo’s, the older boy’s fingers laced through his, the touch warm and calming.

He finds his glasses where he left them, in arms reach above his pillow and, once he’s slipped them on and he’s free to see again, he pulls his phone out from under his pillow. There’s still a while before Sawamura comes in to shuffle any lingering sleepers out in time for a last chance at breakfast but, if he gets up now, he’ll have a few extra minutes to get ready at his leisure. 

He’s about to pull his hand away from Kuroo’s and quietly slip away to do just that, but he reconsiders. He’s not sure if their hands have ended up that way simply because Kuroo reached out unknowingly in his sleep — or maybe he’d done it himself but, somehow, that seems unlikely — or if it had been more purposeful, if Kuroo might have woken up anxious in the night and done it to calm down. If that’s the case, it might be imprudent to pull away without saying anything first, and there’s no telling how Kuroo might react if he were to wake up and find him gone. 

He reaches out a hand toward Kuroo’s shoulder, intent on gently shaking him awake, then he hesitates. It’s just so weird to him, to be deliberately touching someone. He’s so used to avoiding it and, usually, the closest he gets to it is being jostled on the court or in the lunch line. 

He resolves himself and pushes through the unease, his hand meeting a bicep. Then he freezes and flushes as he’s confronted with a whole different kind of unease. With just that simple touch, he finds his hand wanting to linger and stray, wanting to find out if the rest of that arm is just as firm, and whether the muscles would feel even better against his fingers without Kuroo’s sleep shirt getting in the way.

Luckily, the touch alone is enough to draw Kuroo out of his sleep and Tsukishima doesn’t have to fight through the swirl of thoughts to remember there was actually a reason for his hand to be there in the first place. As Kuroo’s eyes blink open, he turns onto his back with a quiet sigh and Tsukishima retracts his hand before his thoughts can trip over into even more dangerous territory. His other hand is now also free as Kuroo releases it to rub at his face, and then hazel eyes meet golden ones. 

“‘Morning,” Kuroo says with a sleepy smile.

“I’m heading for breakfast,” Tsukishima says stiffly, standing and heading to his bag to dig out his clothes for the day. “Is that okay? Are you… feeling okay, or whatever?” 

“Are you asking if I’ll miss you,” Kuroo asks with a wink. Tsukishima rolls his eyes and it makes Kuroo laugh. “I’m fine,” he says, still smiling but answering the question seriously this time. “I know where to find you if that changes.” 

“Okay, then.” 

As Tsukishima heads out for the bathrooms, he peeks back one last time to see Kuroo frowning at his phone and grumbling something that sounds vaguely like ‘Did those idiots really have to go causing trouble so early in the morning.’

When he stops back by the dorm, he’s not surprised to find that Kuroo is gone. He does, however, find Sawamura struggling to wake Yamaguchi up. Maybe it’s to apologize or to thank them both for last night, either way he takes pity on his captain and takes over the arduous task of rousing his friend to a state of semi-consciousness, just enough to coax him out of the blankets and tempt him with food.

Kuroo must be busy with various captainly duties because, aside from making a brief appearance in the cafeteria that’s barely long enough for them to exchange glances, he doesn’t see him again until he arrives at the gym. When he gets there, he finds Kuroo waiting for him, leaning with arms crossed next to the door. 

“This way, Specs,” Kuroo greets him when he approaches, standing up properly and pointing down the path away from the gym with a quirk of his head and a raised eyebrow. “We need to talk.”

Sawamura gives him a single, understanding nod, and Tsukishima follows Kuroo. He leads them to some sort of office that’s just a little ways away, but it’s empty and it has a door, so it’s private enough.

When the door closes, Kuroo moves to pull him into a hug, but his motions are unhurried and gentle enough that Tsukishima can object and pull away if he wants to. Honestly? Part of him does want to pull away. Mostly because he’s a little scared of how much he  _ doesn’t _ want to. 

Regardless, he lets it happen. His parents had said that, while Kuroo would feel the partial bond the most, he’d be feeling it too. He can’t deny that just  _ seeing _ Kuroo had lifted a weight off his shoulders. In his arms like this? He feels even calmer. If this is how he’s feeling, Kuroo must be feeling it even more. 

They stay like that for a second before Kuroo takes a deep breath and starts nuzzling at his neck, Tsukishima’s head tilting away to give him room almost by instinct. 

“Good you smell good,” Kuroo whispers distractedly. “You did before, too, but now…”

Tsukishima flushes. “I suppose that’s to be expected,” he grumbles, hoping his embarrassment doesn’t show through too much. It’s one of those things about bonding, after all. It’s not like everyone else starts to smell bad or something like that, but they say you’re particularly drawn to your mate’s scent.

“Do I smell good to you?” Kuroo teases as he continues to scent him.

Yes. The answer to that is a resounding yes. But as if he’d admit that out loud. Hah.

_ ‘You don’t have to say it out loud,’ _ comes in his head, Kuroo chuckling into his neck. 

Oh for the love of… He’d forgotten about that particular annoyance. This time, he purposely thought that hard enough for Kuroo to pick it up and it just makes Kuroo snicker. 

He feels Kuroo’s warm breath against his neck. And his lips, just barely. Not enough to call the fleeting touches anything like kisses, not even enough to say they’re deliberate on Kuroo’s part, but just enough that his brain is having no trouble conjuring up the idea of it. Tsukishima really hopes Kuroo is not reading that thought too.

“I thought you dragged me in here to talk,” he grits out.

“Mmm,” Kuroo hums against his neck and the vibrations drive him a bit crazy. At this rate, it’ll be a miracle if he leaves this room with his sanity intact. “That too.” Kuroo chuckles then playfully grazes his teeth against sensitive skin before pulling away to sit against a corner of the desk. 

Tsukishima just crosses his arms and waits. 

“I assume you don’t want people to know about this?” Kuroo starts.

“It’s not exactly that I care whether they know,” Tsukishima answers. “I’d just rather avoid giving people a reason to worry.” 

“How selfless,” Kuroo says with a smirk. 

Tsukishima scowls. “Yeah, whatever,” he says. “It’s a pain if people are too curious or too scared, okay? It’s easier if they just… don’t know.” 

“I’m teasing,” Kuroo says. “Seriously, I get it. Does your team know, then? What happened with us?” 

He shakes his head. “Mostly no. Not yet anyway. I imagine it’s only a matter of time before they figure out something is up though, considering they know about my powers and half of them know you slept in our room. What about your team?” 

“Just Kenma, Yaku, and Kai,” Kuroo says. “It’s fine. We’ll make up some sort of excuse why I’m sleeping with you guys and we can down play the whole thing to everyone else.” 

“Sure,” Tsukishima answers vaguely, then turns to look at the wall with a sigh. 

“Don’t look so worried. Everything will be fine,” Kuroo tells him. He looks back at the older boy and somehow, even though he doesn’t know as many details of the situation as Tsukishima does, his confidence is reassuring. “Look, there’s probably more we should talk about but we can find time for that later. For now, why don’t we focus on what we came to this camp for,” Kuroo continues. “We just scented so we should be okay to go play volleyball for a few hours as if nothing is up. Right? That’s the real reason I brought you here.” 

Kuroo would know better than him how stable he’s feeling right now, but he supposes that’s true so he just nods. 

“Alright then,” Kuroo says, clapping his hands and standing. He slings an arm around Tsukishima’s shoulder and steers them toward the door. “If you manage to block any of the damn owl’s spikes this morning, lunch is on me.” 

“School name and hairdo aside, you know he’s actually a Wolf, right?” Tsukishima snickers. “Also, our teams are covering the food. If you’re trying to motivate me, you’re going to have to do better than that weak-ass bet.”

—

It’s surprising how easy it is to concentrate on volleyball after that. 

Ever since his talk with Yamaguchi and then Bokuto a few nights ago, Tsukishima has, for once in his life, been feeling motivated to strive for something. It’s maybe a little like a switch flipped that night, but it’s not one that made him go from hating volleyball to loving it. It’s nothing that dramatic. It’s just that volleyball has always been this abstract thing, for him. A way to get some exercise with the bonus of an intellectual challenge. Sure, he’s cared enough to make sure he has the basics covered because yes, like Yamaguchi and Hinata and pretty much everyone on the team has accused him of at one point or another, he doesn’t like to be  _ bad _ at things — that’s a given since that would be lame — but he’s always been content with being ‘not bad’. ‘Not bad’ has always been good enough, and he hasn’t seen a reason to put in any additional effort since that just seems like asking for disappointment. 

For the first time, though, he’s started feeling like putting in the extra effort might be interesting. Like maybe it doesn’t have to be about trying to be the best — that’s still just asking to have your ass handed to you — but rather about seeing how far he can go. Seeing if maybe he can get good enough to give a person or two a run for their money.

Then shit went down yesterday. 

The timing was awful, really. He’d just been getting into his volleyball stride and here had come something to knock him back down. He’s not surprised about it though, his powers have always been that way. 

And yet, despite that, here he is. After a turn of events that, really, should have rattled him more and shifted his focus back away from volleyball. Somehow though, he’s still feeding off of the resolve emanating from every one of his teammates and from the bolster of confidence and determination he’d felt from the events after Yamaguchi had confronted him. He’s here, and he’s focussed on the task at hand.

He’s not dumb, either. He knows he also has Kuroo to thank for this. His upperclassman has been almost annoyingly calm and relaxed about this whole thing and, as much as he knows Kuroo  _ has _ to be putting up some kind of front because there’s no way he’s so at ease with all this, he’s grateful for it. Kuroo is still looking his way more than he should, still more invested in how well his tips are working than makes sense, but it’s back to the way it was before ‘the incident’. There’s no confusion or unease in his expression now. Maybe it’s just by virtue of him being aware of what’s going on now.

Either way, by the time lunch hits, Tsukishima has almost forgotten that anything is amiss. 

Then, he’s just finished removing his knee pads and putting them aside for the afternoon when a heavy weight settles across his shoulders, Kuroo slinging an arm around his neck and leaning into him.

“Tsukki! So? Do I owe you lunch?”

“First of all, don’t call me that,” Tsukishima grumbles. “Second of all, like I already said, you  _ can’t  _ owe me lunch. Third of all, as if you don’t know. Don’t you have better things to do mid-match that watch another team play? And lastly, get the hell off of me. You’re sweaty and gross.”

Tsukishima rolls his shoulders in an effort to dislodge Kuroo but all he accomplishes is making him laugh. 

“Aw, I missed you, too,” Kuroo says, turning his head so he can rub his sweat soaked hair into Tsukishima’s neck and against his face.

“You’re so gross,” Tsukishima says, his scowl in full force and leaning as far away from Kuroo as he can with the upperclassman’s arm trapping him at his side. “Why are you so gross?”

“Stick around and I’ll show you just how gross I can get,” Kuroo tells him with a wink. 

Tsukishima’s eye twitches. And Sawamura, as if sensing a disturbance in the force, narrows his eyes at Kuroo from across the gym.

“I yield, I yield,” Kuroo laughs towards the other captain, removing his arm and taking a swig of his sports drink, his towel casually slung around his shoulders. “But seriously, come here for a sec.” 

Kuroo pulls him into the sports supply closet and closes the door, pushing Tsukishima against it. He crowds in close, boxing Tsukishima in without the position feeling oppressive. 

Away from prying eyes and with less of a need to put on a cheerful facade, Kuroo’s smile has fallen some and he’s frowning just a little bit. He spares a moment to rub his towel over his hair and his face more thoroughly, getting rid of the worst of the sweat. 

As he does it, Tsukishima has a moment to notice that his hair is even messier than usual now and even less time than that to think that he’s kind of into seeing Kuroo so disheveled, and then Kuroo is done and he’s crowding even closer. His thought process halts altogether.

“We were in the same room all morning,” Kuroo breathes against his neck as he scents him. “Still, there was so much distance.” 

Tsukishima breathes out a small sound, his finger knotting into Kuroo’s jersey without his say so. He’d felt it too. Kuroo’s eyes had constantly been on him, and yet it hadn’t felt like enough. His mother had said it was meant to get easier to spend time apart — apparently she’d neglected to mention it would get worse before it got better. 

He’s so caught in his own reflexions that it takes a second for him to notice that Kuroo isn’t just nuzzling him anymore. He’s started pressing little kisses against his neck, moving downward and nosing his shirt out of the way to trail his lips down to his collarbone. 

“Kuroo,” he husks, trying to snap the older boy out of whatever has come over him. It doesn’t seem probable that he’s doing this knowingly, after all.

“Sorry,” Kuroo mutters into his skin, the hint of a tongue making itself known before Tsukishima feels the gentle scrap of teeth. “You smell so good, I can’t help it.”

Tsukishima makes a noise low in his throat. It’s not a protest — he’s fairly sure that Kuroo would stop entirely and pull away if it were or if Tsukishima displayed any signs of unwillingness. Instead of stopping, Kuroo hums against him, keeping up his ministrations. 

As it is, he is willing. If a little distressed by that. It feels good, god knows it does, and he’d happily let Kuroo keep doing this for hours, really, except he can’t help but feel guilty because, willing as  _ he _ is, Kuroo is under the influence of a pseudo bond. Sure, that pseudo bond might be making it so that Kuroo  _ needs _ to do this, not to mention that, Kuroo being as easygoing as he is, he doubts Kuroo will be all that embarrassed or regretful of this behavior after the bond is dealt with and gone, but the fact still holds that Kuroo is acting this way as a side effect of his powers.

Kuroo doesn’t actually want him. He definitely doesn’t actually  _ like _ him. So, the least Tsukishima can do is try to remember that fact — let Kuroo get what he needs from him without actually taking pleasure from it or twisting an act of instinct into something meant for him to enjoy.

The first part? Easy. It would take more than a little nibbling on his neck — wait, no. Oh christ. Kuroo is properly sucking on his collarbone now, enough that it might leave a mark. Or hell, Kuroo is probably  _ trying _ to leave a mark.

Point is, no amount of  _ that _ is going to make Tsukishima start thinking Kuroo actually likes him — not when the guy has seen first hand how Tsukishima can be so apathetic and so abrasive at the same time. Whatever attraction Kuroo is feeling right now? It’s obviously his powers that are causing it. 

The part where he’s trying not to enjoy this? Yeah. That’s quickly starting to feel like a lost cause as Kuroo lips leave his collarbone to start trailing kisses along his jawline towards his ear, tongue curling around his earlobe briefly before Kuroo’s back to kissing his neck, paying special attention to his pulse point. It’s just too easy to melt into the touch and wonder if, just maybe, it would be okay for him to touch a little in return.

He does startle, though, when he feels Kuroo’s canines sharpening against his skin, a clear tell that Kuroo is intending to bite down. He quickly brings a hand to his neck, getting in the way of Kuroo’s teeth. 

“Are you crazy? You can’t drink my blood,” he spits out in a panic. Then he regrets the words a touch because, in a sense, Kuroo is maybe a little out of his mind right now and the word ‘crazy’ does actually mean something.

Kuroo isn’t bothered though, just snaps back to reality. 

“Right. Good call,” he chuckles, shaking his head as he pulls away. “I wasn’t thinking. We’re going to have to be careful about that one.” 

Tsukishima frowns a little but nods, dropping his hand. 

Kuroo’s face goes kind of thoughtful, like he’s taking stock of how he feels, then he looks at Tsukishima and smiles. 

“Right, well,” he starts. “Gotta run, be a good captain and all that jazz. Make sure Kenma actually eats lunch, and that Lev doesn’t try to talk Hinata into some sort of Elf versus Fairy volleyball throwdown while the gyms are unspelled. ” 

He’s a little distracted by that last one. Loath as he is to admit that anything concerning Hinata could  _ ever _ be interesting, an all out Elf against Fairy matchup would be interesting to watch. Neither creature is one you typically see in sports — Elves are too dignified for anything liable to make them sweat and Fairies don’t really have the attention span to excel at anything that isn’t mischief or their roguish brand of magic. From what he’s seen of them, both Lev and Hinata have a knack for making their physical stature or athletic prowess work for them — creative about it despite an apparent lack of actual intent — so it would be intriguing to know what they would do in a context where their supernatural powers and abilities weren’t restricted. 

Kuroo cocks an eyebrow with a smirk. “You’re giving them too much credit,” he says, clearly picking up on some of Tsukishima’s speculations. “Unchecked and unsupervised? Those two are liable to destroy the gym.” 

Tsukishima shrugs. “Unchecked sure. But if we find someone who can double down on the protective spells…”

“We’d only be encouraging them.” Kuroo winks. “We can’t exactly have a spellcaster following them around 24/7.”

“Fair point,” Tsukishima concedes.

He steps away from the door and follows Kuroo out of the room. As soon as they step out of the gym, one of the Nekoma players calls out to Kuroo and they part ways. 

As Tsukishima heads for the cafeteria, his hand finds its way back onto his neck where he still feels the ghost of Kuroo’s fangs sharp against his skin. 

He can’t help but wonder what it would have been like to let Kuroo drink his blood, or to drink Kuroo’s. 

He’d protested in a hurry, but not because he didn’t like the idea.

Vamp blood, unlike Human blood or the blood of most other humanoid creatures, actually tastes good to Vampires. It can be useful, too, because, between Vamps, it has healing properties — that’s why most Vamps know what it tastes like. 

But there’s a slew of reasons why Vamps don’t just go around drinking each other’s blood. For one, it doesn’t sate their need for blood, so, from a nutritional point of view, Vamp blood is useless. 

More importantly, though, it can be a little intoxicating. Like wine is to humans, say, though perhaps more potent. For that reason alone, it would have been a bad idea for Kuroo to drink his blood — there may be an hour or so before they have to play again, but even a sip would have been enough to impair a Vamp well into the afternoon. 

Then there’s the fact that, even if nuzzling is fairly commonplace, drinking Vamp blood is a rather intimate act. In part, that stems from claiming marks and how those require circle feeding to take — but that’s only partially to blame because everyone knows that biting each other or drinking each other’s blood only constitutes a claim when there’s appropriate intent behind it. Drinking a Vamp’s blood does, however, cause a certain connection to that Vamp while the blood is still in your system. The connection has nothing to do with mates but, regardless, it’s intimate enough that drinking Vamp blood isn’t something to take lightly. 

That last reason is why Tsukishima had been so panicked. Not necessarily because of the intimacy — Kuroo had been kissing his neck, after all, and he’d been okay with that — but there’s no telling what the connection might have done to the partial bond. Ordinarily, the connection is harmless and fades quickly but, for all they know, it might have made things ten times worse in this particular case.

Tsukishima drops his hand with a sigh and shakes his head. There’s no point dwelling on what might have happened, he has other things to focus on. He puts the thoughts aside and focuses on what he’ll have for lunch.

—

After lunch, they have another couple of matches — both of which end with Karasuno running up the hill as the penalty for losing — and then coach Ukai has them running receiving drills. 

When they break for supper, Kuroo pulls him aside and scents him again. It’s efficient and all business, nowhere near as eventful as the last time. Then Kuroo excuses himself with a wink and runs off. 

Tsukishima frowns. Kuroo keeps saying they need to talk but it’s starting to feel like he’s purposely avoiding the conversation. Not that Tsukishima is looking forward to that talk himself — actually, it’s on his list of top five things he doesn’t want to do right now — but when it comes to this kind of thing, he’s usually the evasive one. Having the tables turned on him like this… it’s unsettling. Especially because it’s coming from Kuroo. Sure, the captain has made an art of manipulating a conversation to achieve his own ends but he’s always struck Tsukishima as more a “talk it out” kind of guy than one who runs from a necessary conversation.

He’s just putting his tray away, Hinata making noises about wanting to join Tsukishima for free practice with Bokuto again, when Kuroo reappears. 

Hinata’s on him immediately, letting out a barrage of words, which, when puzzled through, turn out to be him asking if Kuroo thinks Bokuto would be alright with teaching him so more ace-worthy tricks.

“Sure, kid,” Kuroo says, ruffling his hair. “Tsukki and I will meet you there in a bit. Go on ahead without us.”

Hinata is whooping and running off before Tsukishima even has a chance to process what’s just happened. 

“Did we have plans?” he asks. 

“Yes,” Kuroo says plainly.

Tsukishima cocks his head. “Did I know about these plans?” 

“You do now,” he gets for an answer. “Come on, we’re going to be late.” 

“To what?” Tsukishima scoffs, following the upperclassmen nonetheless.

“You’ll see.”

Kuroo leads them outside and then along a path leading towards the back of the school. The gyms are the other way and Tsukishima has had no reason to head over this way before. As they walk, Kuroo initiates a conversation about volleyball and they discuss the different teams here at the camp, what they’ve noticed about the players since they’ve been here and what techniques could be useful takeaways. 

There’s a light breeze and it’s cooler now than it had been earlier. It’s a nice walk and Tsukishima has almost forgotten that Kuroo is taking him somewhere specific until he vears of the path a few steps then, all of a sudden, he stops by a tree.

“Sit,” Kuroo says, pointing at the grass. 

Tsukishima takes a look around them and doesn’t find anything of much significance. The school is quite a ways behind them and the grassy patch Kuroo has brought them to is at the top of a small hill, the ground dipping down just a little and then flattening out, making way for a baseball field some hundred yards away. There’s no one around and the area is certainly private but they could have gotten as much privacy by ducking into a classroom, so it seems unlikely Kuroo’s brought him all the way out here just for privacy. Even so, he doesn’t see anything of interest to hint at why he’s been brought here. 

He hesitates too long and Kuroo rolls his eyes, dropping to sit with his legs stretched out and leaning back on his hands. “Just sit. I won’t bite,” Kuroo teases.

“Says the vampire,” Tsukishima snorts, then does as instructed.

“Way to stereotype,” Kuroo nudges him with a smile.

“Never mind that you already tried it once today,” Tsukishima scoffs. “What are we doing out here?” he asks when Kuroo stays quiet.

“We should talk,” comes the answer. 

“I was beginning to think you were avoiding that.” 

“I was,” Kuroo admits with a chuckle. Tsukishima raises a brow at him. “Well, kinda,” he continues. “I never intended to  _ not _ talk, you know?” 

Tsukishima narrows his eyes. No. He doesn’t know. 

Kuroo sighs and lets himself fall backward, eyes now closed as he lies in the grass.

“Obviously this is affecting both of us and we should talk about what’s going on. Plus, I figure your parents may have told you some extra stuff we should chat about. Truth is, though,” Kuroo cracks an eye open to look at him. “There’s maybe some other stuff I wanted to bring up too and it didn’t feel right going about it clinically and on a schedule so… Yeah, I was avoiding this conversation, but only so we could have it at a more fitting moment.” 

“And now is fitting, then?” Tsukishima asks.

Kuroo shrugs and sits back up. “Can’t wait forever,” he says. 

He’s maybe getting a little nervous now that it’s looking like they’re actually doing this and he’s going to have to share the extra information his parents have told him. It would be so much easier just to keep quiet about it all, especially because the truth isn’t going to change what needs to be done.

Then he notices it. Kuroo is not quite meeting his eye, and there’s tension in his shoulders. It almost looks like…

“Wait. Are you nervous right now?” Tsukishima asks, eyes going wide. 

“Of course I’m nervous,” Kuroo says, throwing his hands up in the air. 

“Why?” Tsukishima asks, thoroughly confused. 

I mean, he gets it. There’s a lot of unknowns here and this talk definitely has the potential to take serious and quasi-unpleasant turns, but Kuroo is so usually so level-headed. Plus, there’s something about the nerves he’s feeling off of Kuroo right now that just aren’t lining up with the situation.

Kuroo groans. “God. Nothing ever goes according to script when it comes to you, does it?”

He thinks that might be a reference to that moment a few nights back when Kuroo had attempted to motivate him but instead just made him get mad and run away. Kuroo apologized for it afterward, of course, but Tsukishima hasn’t really dwelled on it. He faces those insecurities on a daily basis, with or without Kuroo shoving them in his face, so he’s used to brushing them off and moving forward. 

Tsukishima frowns. “It’s your fault for trying to script things in the first place,” he mutters. 

Kuroo chuckles. “True enough,” he says. “You know, I actually meant to bring you out here yesterday.” 

Tsukishima’s brows furrow. “So why didn’t you?” 

“Because,” Kuroo starts, dragging the word out, “I got hit by a certain someone’s powers and I kind of thought I should sort out what was happening there first.” 

“Okay?” Tsukishima says, still confused. Wasn’t he dragged out here to discuss the deal with his powers in the first place? Why would it matter that- Wait. Unless? “Hold on. Are you saying you planned to bring me here  _ before _ you got hit by my powers?”

“Yes,” Kuroo says with a touch of exasperation.

“ _ Why? _ ” Tsukishima answers back, equally exasperated. He feels like all he’s done in the conversation so far is ask that.

“That’s a good question,” Kuroo chuckles. “Why would I want to bring a pretty boy out to a private, secluded spot to watch the sunset? It’s a mystery, really.” 

Tsukishima startles and takes in the situation again. 

Huh. Look at that.

It is sunset. 

And it’s beautiful. It’s quiet, nothing but the sound of cicadas and the slight breeze rustling the leaves above them. Kuroo really has chosen a good spot to watch from, too, the sun setting over the baseball field and turning the sky purple and orange. The whole thing is seriously romantic, now that he thinks about it. 

Then he’s shaking his head. “No,” he says, because just shaking his head is not enough. 

“No?” Kuroo asks, a teasing eyebrow raised.

“No,” he repeats. “You’re not seriously suggesting you wanted to bring me out here to, what, make a move on me?”

“And if I am?”

The way Kuroo is watching him is smoldering. It’s straight out of one of his dreams, really, but it’s too much to think that the attraction to the middle blocker that’s been growing ever since that very first practice match in the spring hasn’t been one-sided. 

When the reality of this situation finally sinks in, the whole thing strikes him as hilarious. He snickers then brings a hand up to his mouth and turns his head away, trying to stop the snickering from building to a full-blown laugh but it’s a losing battle. 

“Seriously, you’re laughing at me? That’s your response?” Kuroo asks with a grin that says he’s clearly not taking offense. 

He shoves Tsukishima playfully, not hard enough to move him, really, but Tsukishima goes with the momentum and falls to his side. He glances at Kuroo’s face, who is looking down at him with a smirk, and it sets him off again. 

The whole situation is so ludicrous, starting with the mere idea that Kuroo might be into him and all the way down to the mess they’re in now. 

“Sorry it’s just…,” Tsukishima starts, catching his breath when the laughter dies down. “It’s just funny to think that you came to this camp thinking you might try your luck at getting a few stolen kisses between practice matches but instead ended-up accidentally half-bonded to me.”

“Things escalated quickly, huh?” Kuroo chuckles.

“That’s an understatement,” Tsukishima says, still snickering from where he’s stayed lying on the ground. “Well, unless this is a regular thing for you, staking a mating claim on your training-camp fling, partial or otherwise.” 

“Nah, I usually don’t bring up mating until I’ve taken someone on at least one proper date,” Kuroo jokes.

It stings the littlest bit that Kuroo isn’t refuting the fling remark but Tsukishima brushes it aside. He’s never expected Kuroo to consider something serious with him in the first place, and it’s a good reminder that he shouldn’t start getting too attached.

“I can’t help but notice,” Kuroo says then, leaning over so he’s looking straight down at Tsukishima. “Despite all the laughing, you never actually turned me down.”

“That’s true,” Tsukshima says, raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t.” 

It’s pointed and Kuroo apparently takes the hint, leaning forward until their lips meet. 

The pressure is gentle and questioning, almost as if Kuroo’s afraid he misunderstood, but Tsukishima is not going to stand for that. If a kiss or two is all he’s getting from the upperclassman, he’s damn well making sure it’s proper kisses. 

Kuroo groans when he kisses back, his hand tangling into Kuroo’s t-shirt to pull him closer. They separate for a moment so Kuroo can shift into a more comfortable position, and then they’re kissing again, Kuroo’s body warm and so, so solid against his. 

It’s slow, almost lazy, as they adjust to each other’s rhythms. It’s not long, though, until Kuroo’s kisses take on more urgency and he is gently pulling at his bottom lip with his teeth. Tsukishima groans, opening up to him as his hand finds its way under Kuroo’s shirt, fingers sliding across a toned stomach.

Then Kuroo’s hand is wandering too, down from his shoulders, along his side and onto his ass. It curls around his thigh, rolling him and shifting him closer. Kuroo rolls his body against his and Tsukishima breaks the kiss to groan into Kuroo’s neck. 

Kuroo’s fingers find his chin, tilting his face back up so their lips can meet again. Tsukishima is all too happy to oblige, tongue finding Kuroo’s as the upperclassman’s hand tangles into his hair. 

“I thought we came here to talk,” Tsukishima manages to mumble between kisses. 

Kuroo hums as he captures his lips in another lingering kiss. “That would be a waste of a sunset,” he says.

“We’re not watching it either way,” Tsukishima says distractedly, as Kuroo kisses along his jawline and down to his neck. 

_ ‘Sunsets are for kissing. Not talking,’ _ he hears in his head as Kuroo starts to suck on his neck. He bites his lip to hold in a moan and forgets to argue the point further.

Then Kuroo’s lips are back on his and nothing else matters.

He loses track of how long they’ve been out here — loses track of his own name and anything that isn’t the pressure of Kuroo’s lips against his and the feel of Kuroo’s fingers mapping out his body. Then Kuroo’s hand is on the front of his thigh, fingers dipping towards the inner seam of his shorts and just grazing his burgeoning erection.

_ ‘This still okay?’ _ comes in his head. 

He groans and thinks  _ ‘fuck yes.’ _

But then reality comes crashing back and he pulls away from Kuroo. 

“Wait,” he says, catching his breath. 

“Sorry. Too fast?” Kuroo asks, his hand immediately moving back to Tsukshima’s hip, his thumb rubbing little circles into the skin just above his waistline. 

“It’s not that,” Tsukishima says with a frustrated groan. “It’s the bond thing. Kissing is one thing but… We don’t know enough about how the stupid bonding spell works. The last thing we need is to make things worse.” 

Kuroo hums an agreement but seems a little confused. A second later, the reason why is apparent. “Bonding spell?” he asks. “You mean the bond-breaking spell?” 

It takes Tsukishima a second to catch up, and then he realizes that Kuroo wasn’t there for that part of the conversation with his parents. 

“That too, I guess,” he says. “But no, I meant the spell that caused this to happen in the first place. My parents told me that part once you had left.” 

Kuroo sits, helping Tsukishima do the same. “Okay, I guess we’re talking after all,” he says with a chuckle. “What’s this about a spell?” 

Tsukishima sighs. “The bond thing? It happened because one of my ancestors cast a spell to help them find a mate. My parents didn’t warn me about it because the chances I would trigger it were so low.”

Kuroo frowns. “I guess it makes sense that there’s a spell to break the bond if it was caused by a spell in the first place,” he says. “And it’s a spell linked to your powers specifically?” 

“Yeah,” Tsukishima says. “Because of my powers, mating is… You know the whole thing where a Vamp’s pheromones causing a heat or a rut is a sign of high compatibility?” 

“Sure.” 

“Right, well. To make a long story short, my powers can send  _ any _ Vamp into a heat or a rut, given the right kind of exposure. You can see how that might complicate the matter of finding a compatible mate. Enough to push someone into casting a spell, apparently.”

“I guess I can understand that,” Kuroo says, shaking his head. “Still, I don’t think I’d want to trigger a bond with a spell. Choosing who you want to spend your life with… That’s more than biology, pheromones, and mating claims, you know? Having a spell do the deciding for you kind of cheapens the whole thing.”

“I know,” Tsukishima mutters. 

“Hey, cheer up,” Kuroo nudges him. “At least we have the spell to break the bond. You’re not being doomed to anything here.”

“You think being mated to you would mean being doomed?” Tsukishima asks with a raised brow and the hint of a smirk, trying to break the tension. Little does Kuroo know that breaking the spell probably is sentencing him to a life with a mate.

“Being mated to me would be like winning the lottery,” Kuroo jokes with a wink. “That said, being forced into a mateship by circumstance… I’m sure there are worse fates, but let’s count ourselves lucky not to have to test it.”

Tsukishima knows he should say more, knows he really should tell Kuroo that breaking the spell is going to have permanent effects and that the spell only triggered in the first place because they would be compatible mates. 

Kuroo is being pretty clear, though. Compatible or not, he has no desire for a mateship triggered by a spell and the only option here — not that he ever thought there was another one — is to go through with things and break the bond for good. 

He’ll tell Kuroo eventually. Before they go through with things. Because his family is right and Kuroo deserves to know.

But maybe it’s okay to leave out the bit where he’s never going to find another mate — he doesn’t need Kuroo feeling guilty over something that isn’t his fault. And maybe it’s okay to wait a little before he says anything at all. 

If he admits everything now, it may well put a damper on things. That would be a shame considering the turn of events things have taken. The way he sees it, it’s best for both of them if they get to enjoy a few stolen moments together over the next few days before they have to face reality. The breaking of the bond is inevitable and there’s no point in the both of them dwelling on the consequences of it quite yet. 

“We should get to the gym,” Kuroo says, glancing at his watch and standing. “We’ve stayed out here longer than I planned.”

“I didn’t realize we were making out on a schedule,” Tsukishima snickers. “And here I was thinking the whole thing was spontaneous.” 

“I hate to break it to you — hell I hate to break it to myself — but this is a training camp and not a ‘sneak off and make out with the blond you’ve been eyeing for months’ camp,” Kuroo says as they head for the gym. “As much as I like the idea of the latter, I do actually intend to work on my volleyball and the gyms will only be open a couple more hours.”

“That and I suppose it’s common decency that we rescue Akaashi,” Tsukishima adds with a shrug. “We only left him to fend off Bokuto, Hinata and Lev on his own.”

“Are you kidding me?” Kuroo scoffs. “It would take more than those three to phase Akaashi.” 

They keep up the easy banter as they walk. It’s easy and fun, so much so that they don’t notice the small group standing near the gym until a playful shriek rings out. 

“Kuroo!” someone shouts. 

They look over and see a small group of girls. They’re wearing sportswear and volleyball pads and, based on their jackets, it doesn’t take much deduction for Tsukishima to realize these girls are from Nekoma’s girls’ volleyball team. 

The girl who shouted jogs over.

“Coach said we could probably find you here. You sure took your sweet time about it,” she says. 

“Didn’t realize we had an appointment,” Kuroo teases her. “You should have called my assistant.” 

“If by ‘assistant’ you mean vice-captain, then I did,” she teases back. “I was telling Kai how boring our training camp was and he suggested we come down here for some practice. Captain to captain, you think you can set something up?” 

“Sure,” Kuroo laughs. “Tsukki and I here were about to join some of the other guys, I’m sure they won’t mind you guys joining us.” 

“Tsukki, is it?” the girl says turning on him. 

“It’s Tsukishima.”

“Hey, you’re pretty cute. What team do you play for? What position? You a third year?” 

“Woah, back off, Aya,” Kuroo laughs. “Are you here to practice or flirt?” 

“A girl can do both,” she says with a wink. 

“Ignore her,” Kuroo advises.

“Rude!” Aya says with a laugh. Then she leans in a little. “Hey, Shizu came with us, too,” she says a little more quietly. “That’s not going to be a problem, right?” 

Tsukishima doesn’t even have a second to wonder what she might mean by that when Lev makes an appearance, running towards the gym. 

“Aya!” he shouts as he nears them, wearing a huge grin. “You guys here to play against us?” He glances at the other girls gathered nearby. “Shizu-senpai! I’m warning you, I won’t go easy on you just ‘cause you’re the Cap’s girlfriend!” 

Kuroo looks a little stricken. Aya looks a little stricken. The girl Tsukishima assumes is Shizu looks a little stricken. 

Tsukishima ignores them all and, calm and collected, heads towards the gym.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who have been waiting for this since the last chapter, I am so sorry this took so long! The end of the summer semester was a lot more intense than I anticipated and school just didn't let up after that! Believe me, when I wrote that last cliffhanger, I had no idea I was going to be leaving you guys hanging for so long! 
> 
> That said, this was meant to be the last chapter but it was starting to get a little long so I split it into two. No worries though, the last part will be coming out within the next two weeks! Enjoy :)

Before Tsukishima’s even finished getting his knee pads on, Lev has entered the gym behind him, followed by most of the girls. Conspicuously, Kuroo and Shizu are missing. In his captain’s absence, Lev takes it upon himself to introduce the girls to Akaashi and Bokuto, explaining why they are here.

By some stroke of luck, Tsukishima doesn’t have to dwell on the whole ‘Kuroo has a girlfriend’ thing very long. As soon as Lev is done with his introductions, Aya pulls him away to the side of the gym.

“You’re such an idiot,” she berates him in a whisper. She’s facing away from the others in the gym and it’s not loud enough for most to hear. Tsukishima is not most, however, and his Vampire hearing allows him to clearly make out what she’s saying. “They broke up months ago and you know that. Why the hell would you call her his girlfriend? Are you trying to make things awkward?” 

“They’re still broken up?” Lev asks with some genuine confusion.

“Duh,” she says, flicking him in the forehead. It’s mildly impressive that she can even reach that high. “Why the hell wouldn’t they be?”

“I dunno. I overheard that Shizu wanted them to get back together. They made such a good couple I figured it was a done deal. Cap’s not dumb. He wouldn’t let a great girl like that go.” 

“Huh, I don’t know anything about that,” Aya says. “Regardless, they’re obviously not back together yet. Whatever Shizu may intend to do, don’t go bringing attention to their relationship during practice, okay? I promised her it wouldn’t be a problem if she joined us tonight, so don’t go making me a liar.” 

“Okay, okay,” Lev says, hands raised. “Can we go play now?” 

Aya huffs out an affirmative just as Shizu and Kuroo step back into the gym. 

The exchange calms Tsukishima a little. But only a little. 

It’s good to know that, whatever just happened between Kuroo and himself, it wasn’t Kuroo sneaking around behind his girlfriend’s back. 

Lev’s words are still bouncing around his head, though. 

_ ‘They made such a good couple.’ _

_ ‘He wouldn’t let a great girl like that go.’ _

His powers, over the last couple of days, have allowed him way more intimacy with Kuroo than he’d ever have dared imagine was possible. Then there are the events of the last hour… Well, they’ve proved that Kuroo isn’t entirely indifferent about him. 

Yet, through all this, he’s been trying to remind himself that none of that actually means anything. 

They are apparently biologically compatible, but biology isn’t the be-all-end-all of a successful relationship. And while there’s apparently some amount of mutual attraction between them, that doesn’t mean they can’t be attracted to other people. 

Besides, none of that matters. One way or the other, they have to break the bond. There’s no way around it. Which means biology will become irrelevant. Who’s to say whether the attraction will persist beyond that. For Kuroo especially, who has every chance of being biologically compatible with any other partner of his choosing, Tsukshima is not a good choice. Not as an end game. 

So if Kuroo and this Shizu girl were really such a good couple? Well… Maybe he has to rethink the whole ‘enjoying the next few days’ thing. He’s already caused Kuroo enough trouble as it is, there’s no need for him to also be the cause of Kuroo turning down some girl that would be a better match for him.

_ ‘Tsukki. About what Lev said…,’  _ he hears in his head. 

He looks up to see Kuroo watching him. The older boy is standing by Aya and Bokuto now, and the three seem to be discussing how to split everyone here into teams. 

_ ‘It’s fine,’ _ he thinks back. 

_ ‘But-’ _

_ ‘Not now, _ ’ he thinks, cutting off whatever Kuroo was going to say.  _ ‘Let’s just play.’ _

The response isn’t in words, just a vague thought that Tsukishima interprets as a nod. 

Within minutes, the captains have split the lot of them into two teams. Tsukishima is oddly pleased to find he’s playing opposite Kuroo, alongside Akaashi and Hinata.

The game starts and it distracts him from his thoughts, his focus narrowing down to the ball and how best to block. 

He hasn’t come into this expecting it to be any different than every other practice game over this past week but mixing in the girls has shaken things up more than he expected. They’re good. And their stature and techniques are different from what he’s used to. Adapting to them, both as opponents and teammates, is a good challenge, helping him think about his play in different ways, as well as helping to keep his mind from wandering.

It’s all over too fast, though -- with one of the assistant coaches stopping by the gym to tell them to wrap things up for the night. 

All at once, everyone is moving to put things away and head out. Hinata is still buzzing beside him, rambling on about god knows what as they gather their water bottles and towels, when Kuroo makes his way over.

“Nicely played,” Kuroo tells him with a smirk. 

Tsukishima barely has time to make eye contact before they’re interrupted by a gentle voice. 

“Uh, Tetsu… I hate to interrupt but you said we could talk after practice and we have to leave soon…” 

Tsukishima throws a glance at the girl who has come over. It’s Shizu. She’s pretty and, as much as he can tell from a single game, she seems really nice.

“Yeah, of course,” Kuroo says with a smile. 

She grins back at him and leads him out of the gym.

_ ‘Don’t run off, we have to talk,’  _ Kuroo thinks at him.  _ ‘This shouldn’t take long.’ _

If Lev was right earlier, Tsukishima has a pretty good idea what this talk will be about. In which case, it will probably take longer than Kuroo is anticipating.

_ ‘Whatever,’ _ he thinks back, knowing Kuroo should be able to hear the undertone of agreement in the word.

Watching the two of them leave is strange. He doesn’t have much to go on but, as far as he can see, Lev appears to have been right when he said she and Kuroo made a good couple. They look good together, and there’s this sense of familiarity and ease between them. It’s, once again, a reminder that he shouldn’t be getting caught up in this pseudo-bond or in their kiss from earlier. Whether Kuroo should end up with  _ this _ girl specifically or not, this is a good reminder that, when it comes to mates and bonds, Kuroo has a lot of options. A lot of  _ better _ options.

It’s a matter of minutes before everyone has vacated the gym. Tsukishima makes some vague excuses to Hinata about why he’s lingering, then the redhead leaves ahead of him. He leans up against the wall outside the gym with the Nekoma girls gathered nearby as they wait for Shizu. 

Standing here, he can just make out Shizu’s and Kuroo’s voices, exchanging inane pleasantries about their mothers. 

He glances back at the group of nearby girls -- a couple of Humans, a Nymphe, a Golem and a low-class Demon. None of which have good enough hearing to listen in on their teammate’s conversation, a fact which the half-Human half-Vamp Shizu must be well aware of. He wonders if she’d picked the specific locale for the chat with that in mind, and whether she has any inkling he might be listening in. 

Not that he’s  _ trying _ to listen in, mind you. It’s just that not much else is going on. He can’t help it if Kuroo’s conversation is more interesting than the girls chatting about last week at the karaoke parlour. 

“About our moms…,” he hears Shizu say. “The reason I wanted to talk was… I overheard them the other day. Your mom was saying… Well, about that night you invited me over but you got all weird and told me to leave? The night of the full moon? They were talking about  _ why  _ you told me to leave and… I guess I’ve been wondering if it’s true.”

“That my rut started, you mean,” he hears Kuroo say. The way he says it sounds a little wary, like he’s understood exactly what she wants to talk about and is resigned to it. 

Tsukishima can’t help but be surprised by the information. Maybe he shouldn’t be since Kuroo had known he was an alpha and there are only so many ways for that knowledge to come to light. He’d just assumed, though, that he’d found out through some form of medical test. That he’d found out from experiencing his first rut had just seemed so unlikely, especially considering this afternoon’s events, because it would mean either Kuroo was mated (which he knew for a fact he wasn’t, he’d have smelled it otherwise) or he had come across an extremely compatible partner during the full moon. While it wasn’t too unusual these days that he wouldn’t have jumped right into a mateship with that person, it was a little bizarre to think he wouldn’t, at the very least, be involved with that person now.

“So it’s true then.” 

There’s an affirmative grunt. “Why does it matter, anyway?”

Shizu lets out an amused sounding scoff. “I know it’s been a  _ thing _ for you, ever since we were kids, that you didn’t want your anatomy and pheromones picking a partner for you, so I get why you would have panicked and broken things off with me. If it’s true that I triggered your rut though…”

“Shizu…” 

“I’m not saying it has to decide anything for us,” she jumps in again before Kuroo can say anything. “But don’t you think it would be a shame to waste that kind of compatibility just so you can make some sort of point?” 

Tsukishima’s head is spinning a little from the conversation and he’s not really sure what to make of these revelations. He  _ does _ know, though, that he can’t stay here and listen to how the rest of it plays out. 

He makes his way back to the dorm in a bit of a daze. Despite trying not to think about it, his mind can’t help but keep going over what he’s overheard, lining it up with everything else he’s learned in the past couple of days. 

He’s been trying to convince himself since he first learned about the bond that, just because Kuroo is apparently the only person he’s likely to be at all physiologically compatible with, it doesn’t mean the reverse is true. It doesn’t even mean he would be the most compatible partner for Kuroo. 

Yet, now faced with the reality that, in fact, it appears Kuroo has known a more compatible partner all along, he’s struggling to wrap his mind around it. 

_ ‘They made such a good couple,’  _ Lev had said. _ ‘He wouldn’t let a great girl like that go.’ _

From what he’s overheard, Kuroo had been the one to break things off. From the sounds of it, though, he’d only done it because of a hang-up about his biology. If that’s true… The kiss earlier, and everything else Kuroo had said, was likely Kuroo making some kind of desperate attempt to prove he still had a choice about who he wanted to mate. 

Of course he had a choice. Always had. Just because one was  _ more  _ compatible with one person, didn’t mean you were incompatible with others. Besides, once a claim took, whatever compatibility you might have had with someone else was inconsequential, even in cases where a rut or heat has been triggered with someone else. That’s how strong a mating bond was.

When two people were so compatible as to trigger each other’s mating cycles while unmated… Well, there was a long history to suggest that, if those two people  _ did  _ mate, it would resulted in extremely strong mating bonds that often came with additional effects -- one such couple’s bond had actually granted them the power to increase the fertility of couples they deemed would make good parents, even in cases where conception should otherwise have been impossible. So sure, over time this kind of bond, because it was rare and so strong, had developed a sort of mystique, to a degree where many people would be willing to jump into such a mateship right away, no questions asked. There were plenty of cases, however, where people had ignored that compatibility and mated with someone else, sometimes for political reasons, sometimes because they were already in love with someone else. There were also cases where people  _ had  _ jumped into these mateships only to see their families torn apart and then lose everything without even the consolation of an extraordinary mating bond to show for it.

So Tuskishima could understand Kuroo’s point of view, to a degree. Too many people treated this pheromone phenomenon as a sort of cosmic message that should trump everything else you were feeling, everything else you wanted. Just like with the spell, there was something about giving in to the whole thing that just felt very… primitive. Physiological compatibility was all well and good, but mating wasn’t all there was to life. So Tsukishima could understand the urge to prove you were above it, that you weren’t going to let some baser instinct control your life.

And the partial bond… Well that was just complicating things further, wasn’t it? Putting the proof Kuroo was looking for right into his hands, turning Tsukishima into nothing more than a convenient excuse to put Shizu in the past. 

He  _ had  _ chosen to be with her, though. Before the full moon and her pheromones had triggered his rut. If the only reason he’d let her go was because of this hang-up of his… Well, he could try to run from his feelings for her but, inevitably, he’d go back to her, wouldn’t he? They were exceptionally compatible, on every level. They’d been a good couple before the fact, after all… 

Tsukishima had thought it was okay to selfishly indulge in their mutual attraction over the next few days but with this new information… it didn’t seem fair. From the start, he had never wanted to complicate things for Kuroo. He had never wanted to be the reason Kuroo was kept away from the things he wanted or deserved.

More than that though, he didn’t want to be some sort of pawn in Kuroo’s quest for free will.

Would a summer fling between them be fun for the both of them? There was every chance of that. Was there a possibility the mutual attraction could remain, even once the bond was broken and their physiological incompatibility was a guarantee? Sure. 

It wouldn’t be smart to keep going along with this, though. Every second, he would be putting himself at risk of starting to hope… And every second, he’d be wondering if Kuroo was just in it to make some kind of point while running from what he really wanted. Every second would be a countdown leading to an inevitable end, one where Kuroo went back to the girl he really wanted.

By the time he’d hurried through his shower and gotten ready for bed, he’d resolve to put an end to whatever had briefly flickered to life between himself and Kuroo earlier that evening.

Kuroo made it back to the room a little before lights out and, by then, Tsukishima was already under the covers feigning sleep.

“You ran off,” Kuroo whispers to him as he slides into his own bedroll.  _ ‘I know you’re not asleep,’ _ he adds silently.

Tsukishima considers keeping up with the charade entirely, leaving the whole of this to be dealt with tomorrow. This thing with their partial-bond has been plenty stressful, though, and he figures he can offer Kuroo an olive branch and enough peace of mind so they can both get some sleep.

“She looked like she wanted to talk about something serious,” he whispers without stirring. “Thought I’d give you some privacy.”

“Okay,” Kuroo says, hesitating a little.  _ ‘I don’t want you to get the wrong idea, though.’ _

_ ‘About what?’  _ he answers in his thoughts. In this situation, Kuroo’s powers are certainly a handy trick, he doesn’t need his teammates overhearing this.  _ ‘I heard Lev and Aya talking. I know you two were broken up.’  _

Were. Past tense. Whether it’s still true, or whether it will still be true in the near future… Well, he hopes Kuroo doesn’t want to get into that tonight. 

Kuroo’s hand snakes out to find Tsukishima’s under his covers, their fingers lacing together as Kuroo's thumb draws circles on his palm. He has half a mind to pull his hand away but the rush of comfort he feels at the simple touch reminds him that the spell is still in effect and that Kuroo is feeling it more than he is, so he grits his teeth and stays still.

_ ‘We broke up a couple of months ago. Just so you know,’  _ Kuroo elaborates.  _ ‘I wouldn’t want you to think that kiss earlier was a rebound thing or something to get back at her.’ _

No, it wasn’t. It was just something to prove he’d done his due diligence, sowed his wild oats and properly considered all his options before he went back to her. He doesn’t say that though.

_ ‘You didn’t do anything wrong,’ he says. ‘I get it. You’re free to kiss whoever the hell you want to kiss.’ _

_ ‘As long as you get it,’  _ Kuroo says, squeezing his hand. There’s an undercurrent of something a little unsettled in it and, if he’d dared to peek out from under his sleeping mask, he’s fairly sure Kuroo would be frowning. _ ‘But I didn’t want to be kissing whoever, you know. I wanted to be kissing  _ you _.’ _

He’s skeptical. With what he knows now… Even if Kuroo  _ had _ planned on making a move before the spell triggered, he can’t help but feel that this isn’t really about him. Maybe there is some mutual attraction here, but Kuroo wouldn’t have acted on it if his rut had never happened and he was still happily dating Shizu. Maybe he wouldn’t have acted on it even without all that, except, now, he has a point to prove.

_ ‘Okay _ ,’ he says instead. ‘ _ If that’s settled, can we sleep now?’ _

There’s another squeeze to his hand.  _ ‘Sure.’ _

\--

The next day is a bit of a mess. 

In the morning, Tsukishima sneaks off before Kuroo is awake and he finds himself timing his comings and goings from shared areas so he won’t have to spend any time with the upperclassman. 

He knows that when he eventually does have to face Kuroo, he’ll have to be clear about putting a stop to anything romantic before it even has a chance to really start. He’s just not so sure he’s quite worked up the resolve to go through with it, so avoiding Kuroo is the only other recourse he has. 

It comes at a cost, though. Once he’s on the court, Tsukishima is trying to keep his head in the game but it’s only half working. Sure, he manages to stay focused for stretches at a time. Then he’ll happen to glance across the gym and catch a grin and the focus is gone. 

It comes to a head in the afternoon when they face off against Nekoma. 

Kuroo is now impossible to ignore. 

The fact that Kuroo obviously knows Tsukishima is avoiding him is also impossible to ignore. 

What’s way too easy to ignore, apparently? The ball. 

Which is how he ends up with a face full of it, his glasses crushing painfully into the bridge of his nose and adding to the stinging of his cheek. Thankfully, nothing is broken from the impact-- not his face, nose or glasses -- though his pride is a little damaged. 

Misplays happen, of course. So do balls to the face -- that’s the nature of volleyball. It was an easy block, though, and he should have had this one. Except, he’d just… let his eyes drift for a second too long towards Nekoma’s back row (and the captain who’d just been up to serve). 

He’s taken off the court for a few minutes so he can stand far enough from the equalizer spells on the court for his Vampire healing to kick in and take care of the burgeoning bruising. Then, instead of putting him back in, Ukai opts to keep Ennochita in for the rest of the match, using it as an excuse to give the second year some play time. From the gruff “Sort it out,” the coach grunts at him quietly, he knows that’s not the only reason. 

The match ends and they break for dinner.

Tsukishima tries to hurry through removing his pads so he can make his escape, but Kuroo doesn’t let him.

“Not happening,” the upperclassman tells him, grabbing him by the back of his shirt just as he tries to exit. 

Kuroo says nothing else, just grabs his hand and leads him past the office they’d talked in that first morning after finding themselves half-bonded. Kuroo keeps leading him a little ways further and eventually pulls him into a utility closet.

“I’ve been letting it go but I can’t anymore,” Kuroo says, crowding in close, his cheek against Tsukishima’s neck as he takes a deep inhale. “Ordinarily, I’d have given you more time before pressing the issue but I’m at my limit here.”

As close as Kuroo is, he also feels far away. He’s nuzzling him but he’s making a point to keep physical contact to a minimum. Once he’s gotten what he needs, he drops the smallest of kisses against his neck before he steps away entirely. 

“So?” Kuroo asks, crossing his arms and quirking a brow.

“So what?”Tsukishima asks with a frown. 

“What’s bothering you? It’s not exactly great for either of us if you keep avoiding me.” 

“I’m not-”

“Don’t even,” Kuroo interrupts with a roll of his eyes and a little shake of his head. “Look, is it about us kissing yesterday? Are you regretting it? Or does it have to do with Shizu?” 

“I don’t regret kissing you,” Tsukishima grumbles, latching on to the only thing he feels safe answering. He’s toying with his fingers with his eyes locked on a bottle of floor cleaner sitting on a shelf roughly three feet to the left of Kuroo’s head.

“It’s Shizu then,” Kuroo says. “I told you. She and I broke up months ago. So if it’s, I don’t know, guilt or jealousy…” 

“It’s not like that,” Tsukishima says, looking at Kuroo properly this time. “It was just a wake-up call.” He continues. “It just reminded me that there’s a version of the future that’s nice and uncomplicated. Unfortunately, that future is one where you and I stay away from each other. So excuse me for finding it difficult to look at you when it’s a constant reminder that we’re wasting our time and this whole thing is just a pain in the ass that will probably end with at least one of us being disappointed or hurt and wanting things we just can’t have.”

“Unfortunately, huh?” Kuroo asks, smug. Strangely, Tsukishima’s outburst seems to have reassured him more than anything else and he’s moved in just a little closer.

“Way to latch on to the least significant thing I just said.” 

“I think it’s plenty significant,” comes the response. “Besides, who says that’s the only future that’s ‘nice and uncomplicated’. We won’t know unless we give the alternative a shot.”

“Really,” Tsukishima asks, raising a brow. “You can imagine a version where you and I keep messing around without things getting complicated? You can’t seriously believe that getting rid of the bond isn’t going to have any emotional side-effects.” 

“Ok fine, uncomplicated is a ship that sailed a long time ago,” Kuroo admits with a shrug. “But you and me? Seems plenty ‘nice’ to me.”

“You’re insufferable,” Tsukishima replies. 

“Have I really been making you suffer?” Kuroo quirks his head, crowding in closer. 

“I- You-,” Tsukishima grits out, then growls, pushing his glasses firmly up the bridge of his nose. “Kuroo. She triggered your rut! And we’re about to go through with a spell to break this stupid bond. We both know you and I will never amount to anything, so why should we waste our time?”

“Ok. There’s a lot in that statement to unpack,” Kuroo says. 

“There’s nothing to ‘unpack’,” Tsukishima jumps in. “It’s all true.” 

“Tsukki-”

“Don’t call me that,” Tsukishima cuts him off.

“Tsukishima,” Kuroos starts again, but then shakes his head. “ _ Kei. _ ”

“What?” comes the grumpy reply. 

“Right here, right now, I want you. Doesn’t that count for something?” 

Tuskishima eyes him for a moment. Then takes a breath. “In the moment? Maybe. But it won’t last. So why should we kid ourselves?”

“Who knows whether it will last or not,” Kuroo says. “But I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. Are you really telling me it’s not the same for you?” 

“The way we’re feeling right now is irrelevant,” Tsukishima growls. “This partial bond is affecting us both. Of course we’ve never felt any of this before! Whatever we feel for each other is being amplified but neither of us chose this connection. It’s all circumstance and all of that will go away when the bond is gone.” 

Kuroo shakes his head. “I was attracted to you before any of this,” he says. “Of course the bond has an effect on what I’m feeling, but I can tell the difference. When I say I’ve never felt this way, that has nothing to do with the bond. I felt that way before any of this happened.” 

“Says the guy who’s rut was started by another Vamp,” Tsukishima scoffs. “Don’t try to tell me I’m somehow different or special to you. I heard you guys talking, Kuroo.  _ She’s _ the one who is special. She’s the one that means something to you, even if you’re running scared at the moment. Our bond is going to break and, even if we manage to keep up the pretense of there being something between us for a while, you’ll eventually realize that there isn’t anything there. I’m not the one you’re meant to be bonded to.”

“I like to think we’re ‘meant to be bonded’ to whoever we  _ chose  _ to be bonded to. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but I do know that right now, I’m choosing this. I’m choosing you. I’m choosing to find out what will happen after the bond is broken.”

“You’re not choosing me,” Tsukishima grits out. “You’re just trying to prove that you  _ can _ choose. She started your rut and the only way you can prove you’re not a slave to your body is to choose something that’s not her.” 

“How much of our conversation did you hear?” Kuroo says softly. 

“Enough to know that we shouldn’t be doing this. We shouldn’t be doing this to her and I shouldn’t be doing this to myself. I can’t risk feeling something for you when I know I’m not going to be allowed to keep you in the end.” 

Kuroo nods to himself, watching Tsukishima for a moment with the smallest of smiles. Tsukishima is torn between his desire to run out of the room or into Kuroo’s arms. 

“She didn’t start my rut,” Kuroo says after a moment. 

Tsukishima frowns. “I don’t know what you’re playing at. I told you, I heard-” 

“Yeah, you heard us talking. If you had stayed for the whole conversation though, you would have heard me tell her that she didn’t start my rut.”

Tsukishima’s frown deepens as he runs through the conversation again in his head. What was it she had said exactly? Mistakenly thinking you started someone’s rut is a pretty big misunderstanding.

“Look, it’s true that my rut started almost exactly as she entered the room that night but it had nothing to do with her. And yes, it’s why I broke up with her, but I wasn’t running from anything.”

Tsukishima processes that. 

“If it wasn’t her, who then?”

“I don’t know,” Kuroo answers with a shrug, then he smirks. “Or rather, I didn’t know then. Now? I might have an idea.” 

Tsukishima shakes his head. 

“That’s impossible.”

“Is it?” Kuroo quirks an eyebrow. 

“ _ Yes, _ ” Tsukishima answers, throwing his hands up. “You know how that stuff works. It wouldn’t have happened unless the person was there with you at the time.” 

Kuroo nods. “Yeah, the person would need to be there,” he agrees. “Or their pheromones.” 

Tsukishima blinks. “What?” 

“Do you remember what night the full moon was a few months ago?” Kuroo asks.

Tsukishima thinks back and does the math, trying to think if any recent full moon had fallen on a significant night. Then it comes to him.

“The night of our first practice match against you guys.”

“Right,” Kuroo says. “After that match, we headed back to Tokyo. That night, Shizu stopped by just as I was unpacking and I found a towel that didn’t belong to me in my bag. I smelled it to see if I could recognize who’s scent was on it and… Well, you know what happened next.” 

Tsukishima takes a steadying breath as he tries to figure out what to make of that revelation. “I don’t get it,” he says after a second. “Weren’t you supposed to have a complexe about pheromones picking a partner for you? Yet, just like that, you broke up with your girlfriend and went looking for the person who triggered your rut? Wouldn’t you be trying to avoid that person.”

Kuroo chuckles. “You’re right, I don’t like the idea of people getting together  _ just _ because of their pheromones. And I don’t like the thought that someone could love one person for years and one whiff of someone else makes all that go away. It doesn’t feel like there’s any real meaning in those kinds of relationships. So I wouldn’t turn away from someone I loved just because my body had different ideas, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to run from someone just because our pheromones are saying we’re compatible. Besides, I didn’t go looking for the person who triggered my rut. I went looking for you.”

“But weren’t you just saying that…” He doesn’t dare finish that sentence.

Kuroo rolls his eyes fondly. “Yes Tsukki. I’m pretty sure you started my rut. I didn’t know that when I broke up with her, though, did I? All I knew was that it had started because of some Vamp whose scent I didn’t recognize.”

Tsukishima is about to argue but then he remembers that Kuroo didn’t know his scent back then. “You thought I was Human,” Tsukishima says. “And you wanted to kiss me before you knew I was a Vamp. You’re actually saying that you thought there was someone else out there who had started your rut but you wanted to kiss me?” 

“Yes.” 

“That doesn’t make sense.” 

“Sure it does.” 

“No, it doesn’t,” Tsukishima groans. “You claim that you broke up with her because of me but you barely knew me. Hell, you barely know me now!”

“You’re right, I didn’t know much about you. I knew there was something about you that intrigued me and I thought you were cute. And you’re also right to think that alone is not enough for me to break up with someone.”

“So what else was there?” 

Kuroo sighs and looks away from Tsukishima, running a hand through his hair.

“Shizu and I… The thing is, our mothers are close friends. About a year ago, we got tired of them always joking about us dating and, since neither of us was into anyone else and we didn’t hate the idea of it, we decided to give dating a try,” he pauses. “Don’t get me wrong, it was nice. I like Shizu as a person and, objectively, I do find her attractive, so I did actually think of her as my girlfriend and being with her was different then when we were just friends.

“But being with her was never… It was never something I  _ wanted,  _ it was more like something I didn’t mind. Something that was alright until I found something better. I just hadn’t quite realized that. Or maybe I had but I was hoping that one day I might start thinking she  _ was _ that something better. 

“Then my rut happened and I knew without a doubt that day would never come. And it wasn’t because those pheromones made me feel things she’s never made me feel. It was because, inexplicably, all I could think was that, if I was going to break up with her to see how things went with someone else, I would rather take a chance at seeing if I could get that stubborn, bored-looking, blond kid from Karasuno to laugh than try to find this stranger who triggered my rut. That I’d had the thought at all… I knew then that she and I were never going to amount to anything and it wasn’t fair to keep wasting her time.”

Tsukishima takes that in, then narrows his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me about your rut when you found out we were bonded? Or before I looked in your eyes? You must have known it was me by then.”

“I told you. I don’t like the idea of people picking each other just because of physiology. I would have told you about everything eventually if things were working out, but I didn’t want to put any unnecessary pressure on things. And I didn’t tell you before looking into your eyes because I’d just found out your power could trigger ruts and I wondered if maybe my rut was related to that. It didn’t change the fact that breaking up with Shizu was the right thing to do or that I was into you but I thought, maybe, the fact I’d had a rut at all was irrelevant.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” Tsukishima mutters. “My powers have nothing to do with my pheromones and my aura isn’t something I leave behind. If I wasn’t there, then your rut had nothing to do with my powers.” 

“That much I’ve managed to piece together,” Kuroo admits. 

Tsukishima’s head is spinning. What does it mean that he triggered Kuroo’s rut? Could it possibly be an indicator that, like him, Kuroo’s mating prospects are narrowed down to just one person? To him? 

No. That’s not how it goes. It just means he would be a particularly compatible mate for Kuroo. And that won’t be true anymore when the bond breaks. Kuroo will still have other options.

From everything that’s been said though, right now, biology doesn’t matter. Kuroo wants him. He wants Kuroo. 

They’ll never be able to properly mate. Is that enough? Would that last?

“I can’t deal with this right now,” he whispers and makes a run for it. 

“Tsukki, wait!” Kuroo calls, close on his heels. 

“I can’t,” Tsukishima chokes out, still running. “It’s too big. The consequences are too final.” 

“What’s final?” Kuroo calls after him. “I’m not asking you to decide anything right now.”

Kuroo makes a dash forward and manages to catch the back of Tsukishima’s shirt, the two of them stumbling and winding up piled on top of each other on the floor, Kuroo trapping Tsukishima under him. 

“You don’t get it,” Tsukishima says, frowning and looking anywhere but at Kuroo. “It’s the spell. When we break it, it’s final.” 

Kuroo frowns. “Meaning it won’t trigger again?” 

Tsukishima chuckles cheerlessly. “Meaning that’s it for us. I will never trigger your rut again. You and I will never be able to form a bond again.”

Kuroo takes a second. “I don’t care.” 

Tsukishima shakes his head. “Of course you’d say that,” he answers. “You’ve spent years telling yourself that what matters is who you pick. You’ve made your peace with the idea that, if you fell in love with someone you couldn’t bond with, that would be okay because you chose them. You’re not in love with me, though. You didn’t choose me. You don’t know me well enough for that. And this isn’t Romeo and Juliette. Walk away from this and there’s every chance you’ll fall for someone you  _ can _ bond with. You and me? There’s just no point. It can’t compare.”

Kuroo lifts himself so he’s just hovering over Tsukishima on his hands and knees now. After a few seconds, Tsukishima glances at his face and finds him frowning.

“Is that what you really want?” Kuroo asks. “Tsukki. I wanted to give us a shot when I thought you were Human, when I thought some other Vamp out there was so compatible with me that they started my rut.”

“That’s my point,” Tsukishima says. “Whether we knew it or not, our biology has been pulling us together this whole time. We’re about to take our biology out of the equation.    
How much of what you feel will be left after that?”

“I’ve never met anyone like you,” Kuroo answers, running a thumb across Tsukishima’s cheek. “That’s not biology. That’s just you.” 

“You just thin-”

“No, Tsukki,” Kuroo interrupts. “Don’t forget that I can read people’s thoughts. Because of that, everyone is… predictable. But you never say or do what I think you’re going to. No one has ever challenged me like this. I’ve never been so interested in what someone is going to say. Is there nothing about me, about the way you feel about me, that goes beyond biology?” 

There is. Kuroo is intelligent. And he doesn’t back down. He’s fun and easy to be around. He encourages Tsukishima to strive for more while making him feel like it’s okay to be exactly who he is. None of that has anything to do with powers or pheromones. 

Kuroo seems to read that much from his expression, his face softening. 

“See?” he says. “Who knows what will happen but it doesn’t matter if we can never bond. If it turns out that we make each other happy, isn’t that enough?”

Tsukishima grits his teeth and tries to keep his voice steady. 

“Even if that’s true, we could have had more,” he says. “Now we never will. There’s no way to escape it, we’ll always be shackled by the knowledge that we’re settling for a shadow of what could have been. And it’s all my fault.” 

“It’s not your fault,” Kuroo says, running a thumb under Tsukishima’s eyes to wipe the stay tear he hadn’t even noticed had escaped. “Maybe there’s another way.”

“What other way?” he says. “We have three options. We break the bond forever, we suffer through months of a fading bond, or we mate now. Only one of those makes sense. There is no other way.”

“We still have time,” Kuroo says. “I haven’t had time to think this through. I don’t want to give anything up unless we have no other choice.” 

“That’s the problem, isn’t it?” Tsukishima says. “There is no other choice. If we were to give us a shot, it’s just asking to spend a lifetime wishing there had been.” 

“Tsukki,” Kuroo chuckles. “You’re being fatalistic and you’re fixating on worst-case scenarios.”

Tsukishima narrows his eyes. “Tough not to in this situation,” he grumps. “You can’t possibly be thinking it would be a good idea to mate now. So what are you proposing? It’s asking a lot for either one of us to rearrange our whole lives just to wait out the bond fading.”

“We could make it work,” Kuroo says speculatively, shifting away from Tsukishima to sit up against the wall. Tsukishima follows his lead, settling in next to him. 

“It would mean a lot of sacrifice just to protect a bond we might not even want in the end,” Tsukishima says. “That hardly makes sense.”

“You’re assuming it will be a lot of sacrifice,” Kuroo says. Tsukishima opens his mouth to argue but Kuroo forestalls him. “No, listen,” he jumps in again. “You’re right, there’s a chance it would mean a lot of sacrifice, but we don’t know that for sure. Your parents said it  _ might  _ take months for the bond to fade. What if it turns out to only be a couple of weeks? Or what if after a few weeks, we’re okay to spend a few days apart? We could work with that.”

Tsukishima shakes his head. “Okay, but what if it takes half a year to fade? Or what if we get three months in and we still can’t spend more than a few hours apart?”

“You’re still fixating on the worst case.” 

“And you’re being too optimistic.”

“Then let’s find some middle ground,” Kuroo says. “Why do we have to jump right to choosing something permanent? Why can’t we try to find a workaround first? We still have a few weeks before school starts. If it’s going to be permanent, using the spell to break the bond should be a last resort.”

Privately, Tsukishima doesn’t think that’s going to work. The longer they wait, the harder it’ll be to take it when they realize the only option is to break the bond.

Kuroo is right though. They don’t have to decide anything right this second. His parents haven’t shown up with the spell yet and, by the time they do, it’s likely the rational Kuroo will also have come to the conclusion that the spell is the best option.

He takes a deep breath. “Fine,” he says. “You’re right, there’s still time. We won’t have the spell for a while yet, so you have at least until then to convince me there’s another option.” 

Kuroo rolls his eyes and lets out a laugh. “Can’t you at least make it seem like you  _ want _ there to be another option?” he teases.

“In my experience, wanting things is a dangerous prospect.”

Kuroo lets out a thoughtful hum. “I tend to find it’s a motivating one. I guess that’s just one more thing I’ll have to convince you of.”

“On the bright side,” Tsukishima says, “you have a better track record than most when it comes to convincing me of things.”

“Sure,” Kuroo laughs, “like how I convinced you to get angry and run away three nights ago. Not exactly what I was going for.” 

Tsukishima shrugs. “You got me to practice with you first,” he says. 

“I guess that’s something.” Kuroo smiles and then moves in closer. “I can think of a couple of other things I convinced you to try.” 

His hand finds its way into Tsukishima’s hair, tilting his head until their lips meet. Tsukishima leans into the kiss, feeling it when Kuroo smiles into the kiss before shifting to kiss him deeper. 

“I’d uncheck that one from the win column,” Tsukishima says when they break for air. “That didn’t exactly take much convincing.” 

“I dunno,” Kuroo chuckles against him. “Definitely feels like a win to me.”

Then Tsukishima gets pulled in for another kiss. And they keep kissing. 

Right up until they hear footsteps moving down the hall toward them. 

They break apart and get to their feet, dusting off their clothes.

“Thanks for telling me the spell was permanent, by the way,” Kuroo says quietly. “I know it wasn’t easy, and maybe you should have said something sooner, but I’m glad you told me before it was too late.”

“I wouldn't have done that,” Tsukishima tells him. “I was always going to tell you before we did anything final. I just wasn’t sure how.” 

The footsteps move closer and they both turn toward the sound, curious.

“Good, you told him then,” Yamaguchi says with a smile when they turn his way. “I know I should have trusted you, but I was a little worried you were planning on going through with the whole thing without telling him this was your only shot at a mate.” 

Tsukishima stiffens and Kuroo doesn’t miss it. 

“When he says ‘your’,” Kuroo says calmly. “Does he mean you or us?” 

“Just me,” Tsukishima grits out. “You’re fine.” 

“And you didn’t tell me because…?”

“It’s like you said,” Tsukishima answers. “There was no point in putting unnecessary pressure on things. I didn’t want you making any decisions out of guilt.” 

He’s worried this might start a whole new  _ thing _ . These past few days have been one thing after another and he’s tired of it. 

He braces himself. 

Kuroo lets out a deep, steadying breath. “Okay,” he says. “Fair enough.” 

“You’re not mad?” Tsukishima asks, eyebrows knitting together. 

“I wish you had told me yourself,” Kuroo admits. “And we’re definitely talking about this again later. For now, though, I get why you didn’t say anything.” 

Yamaguchi is still standing there awkwardly. 

“Sorry. I didn’t realize,” he mutters and Tsukishima's gaze snaps to him. 

“It’s fine,” he says, even if it comes out a little terse. 

“Umm, anyway,” he continues. “I was just coming to tell you your brother just showed up. He’s waiting for you in the dorm.” 

“Good. Now we can just get this thing over and done with,” he says without thinking, then freezes. 

Kuroo isn’t phased, just slaps him on the shoulder as he walks past. “Right,” he says. “We can just go tell him we won’t be needing the spell after all. Coming Tsukki?” 

Tsukishima gawks after him. 

“Kuroo… That’s not…” The sentence chokes off, he doesn’t know where to go with it.

“Sure it is,” Kuroo says, looking back with a smirk. “You’re not the only one who can make unilateral decisions. And, somehow, I think I’m going to win this particular round in the end.”

Kuroo winks and rounds the corner while Tsukishima stands there gaping after him and Yamaguchi watches Tsukishima as though worried he might faint. Or explode. 

Then Tsukishima is running after Kuroo because God knows what the upperclassman might say to his brother if he gets there first.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guuyyyyss... I'm apparently really bad at estimating how long things will take me! Or how much of the story is left! Sorry this is up so late!
> 
> Anyway, here's the next bit.
> 
> Oh also, I've been calling Tsukki 'Tuskishima' in this which gave me a bit of a dilemma when I brought Aki into the story. So yes, they are both Tsukishima but when I use Tukishima I mean Tsukki and Aki is Akiteru. I don't know why I'm bothering to say that though... I'm pretty sure no one would have questioned it.

“You aren’t mom and dad,” Tsukishima says when he enters the dorm. His brother is standing across the room looking out the window with his hands in his pockets. 

Akiteru turns at the greeting. 

“Astute observation,” he says with a small smile. “It’s good to see you too.”

Tsukishima doesn’t respond to that, just aims a blank look at his brother. Akiteru isn’t bothered. As much as he misses the younger brother who used to trail after him, all excitement and eagerness to learn, he’s used to this version too. 

“Tsukishima Akiteru,” his brother introduces himself, moving forward to offer a hand to Kuroo. “Kuroo, I presume?” 

“Right on the money,” Kuroo answers with a wink, shaking the proffered hand. 

“Is there a reason you’re here instead of mom and dad?” Tsukishima presses, crossing his arms. 

“There’s no room for pleasantries with you, is there?” Kuroo chuckles.

Tsukishima quirks a brow at him. “That can’t possibly surprise you,” he says. “People rarely accuse me of being pleasant.”

“Yeah, well people are wrong. They just need an interpreter.”

Tsukishima’s face twists into something scandalized. 

“See, I’d agree with you on that one, except,” Akiteru pauses and starts to nod when his brother levels a glare at him, “yeah, except I knew he’d look at me that way.”

Tsukishima rolls his eyes. “Whatever. Can we just get on with it? Why did you come all the way out here?”

“Well, for one, turns out the spell you guys need-”

“Nope, we haven’t settled whether we need it yet,” Kuroo interrupts. 

Both brothers look over at him, one with mild amusement, the other with an intent to kill. 

“Uh, then, the spell you guys were looking for?” Akiteru tries, glancing at Kuroo for confirmation. The captain nods his approval of the new wording. “Anyway, it was written in a warded tome, so we couldn’t photograph it or copy it down. It had to be delivered in person.” 

“And mom and dad couldn’t be bothered?” Tsukishima asks, eyes narrowed. “That seems weird.” 

“Uh, well that’s...,” Akiteru starts. He’s actually blushing a little and averting his gaze. That doesn’t bode well. “Right, so we may have learned a few new things and mom thought it might be less awkward hearing it from me.”

Kuroo raises a brow, his smirk in full bloom. “Well, this promises to be entertaining.” 

The dorm is empty at the moment but, with his teammates liable to stop in at any time to grab something between dinner and free practice, they decide to find somewhere a little more private.

Once they’ve settled in, Akiteru glances at them both and clears his throat before starting in. 

“So uh, ripping off the bandaid with the bad news first, turns out the spell will only work on the first full moon after the partial bond happened. After that, for better or worse, you’ll be stuck riding it out or making the thing permanent.”

Tsukishima grits his teeth. At this rate, this whole ordeal will leave him with his teeth ground down to stubs.

“So what you’re saying,” he says, trying to stay calm, “is that we have two days to make a decision?”

“Pretty much,” his brother confirms. 

Tsukishima breathes in through his nose and Kuroo doesn’t react except to give Tsukishima’s hand a gentle squeeze. 

“You said bad news,” Kuroo says. “Does that mean there’s good news?” 

“Uh, maybe I shouldn’t have phrased it like that. I mean, there’s more news, yes. Maybe it’s good. I guess. Though it probably depends how you look at it?” Akiteru says, flustered and blushing again. “Anyway, it’s uh… Christ, I’m a grown ass man, you’d think this wouldn’t be so hard to say! I mean, you are my kid brother and all, but still.”

Akiteru continues to hesitate. Then Kuroo chuckles.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out Kuroo heard whatever it is Akiteru is struggling to say in his thoughts. 

“What is it?” Tsukishima asks Kuroo instead of his brother. 

“Apparently,” Kuroo starts, drawing the word out. “Your brother is struggling to tell us that we have to have sex.” 

Akiteru gapes for a second before nodding. “Right. Telepathy. I forgot.” 

Tsukishima just stares, first at Kuroo for a second and then back to his brother. 

“What?” he says after a few seconds. “We have to… For the spell? I-... What?” he repeats with a little more emphasis. 

“Right, I should explain,” Akiteru says. “Basically, when we found the spellbook, mom had one of her friends look at it. You know, the one who’s some professor of old spells or something?” Tsukishima nods. “Okay, well she thinks there may be a bit of a loophole here.” 

“She  _ thinks, _ ” Tsukishima says, raising his eyebrows. 

“Yeah, well you know how it goes with academics. She says there’s a good chance her theory is correct, but she can’t say for certain without doing more research.”

“Theory,” Tsukishima says, practically hissing it out like it’s a dirty word. 

“Ignore him,” Kuroo says to his brother. “Keep going.” 

“The gist of it is,” Akiteru says, “the reason this partial bond is lingering is that the spell was meant to create a claiming bond and it never had a chance to complete. I don’t know how much you know about spellwork, but she told us every spell has to specify when the magic should stop. Because the bond wasn’t fully created, the magic is lingering, trying to finish what it started, but all it can do is maintain the bond as it is for as long as it can. When it comes to the bond breaking spell… Well, to quote the professor, ‘it was clumsy craftsmanship’. Basically, whoever wrote it just modified a spell meant to remove mating compatibility between two people. Once you remove that, you can’t bond at all so the lingering magic would dissipate.”

“Okay. And the loophole?” Kuroo asks.

“Well, apparently that hinges on the wording of the binding spell,” Akiteru explains. “If the spell had completed when you first triggered it, it would have resulted in a mating bond, same as if the two of you had exchanged mating bites. Now, though, the spell is just waiting for a claim. However, she figures that, because of the wording, the claim doesn’t necessarily need to be a full-blown mating claim. Any claim would do.”

The cogs in Tsukishima’s head turn and click into place. He gets what his brother is implying and, from the look on Kuroo’s face, he does as well. 

They call it a scent claim. 

Which is a pretty innocent name for what’s involved. Simplifying that to stating that the two of them would have to have sex… Well, it’s true enough in a way. Because they would have to have sex. A lot of sex. Enough that they smell so completely of each other that it constitutes claim and warning to any other Vamp who might come sniffing.

And the kicker? Scent claims can only happen during the full moon. Which means what Akiteru is telling them is they have to pick. Either they perform the bond-breaking spell or they take a shot in the dark at this alternate solution. 

And they have two days to decide. 

“Right,” Tsukishima says, picking at his fingers because there’s no way he’s looking at his brother right now.

“Look,” Akiteru says after a moment, “I’m not here to weigh in on what you guys decide, not unless you want me to. I’m here to tell you that, if there’s any chance you want to preserve the ability to mate each other in the future, then this is an option.” 

The look Akiteru levels at him is loaded and Tsukishima realizes that the awkwardness factor is perhaps not the only reason his brother was made the messenger of this particular information. 

As it happens, Akiteru’s secondary power is in the category of empathic powers. Specifically? He has the ability to see how romantically compatible people are. In simplified terms, his powers make him the perfect matchmaker, letting him assess, both in the long term and the short term, everything from how compatible the personalities in question are, right down to measuring current levels of attraction.

“Whatever you’re seeing, the bond must be playing some role,” Tsukishima says quietly. 

Akiteru smiles slightly and shakes his head. “Doesn’t work that way,” he says. “I’ve known several couples both before and after they mated. Trust me, I know what’s bond and what’s not.” Tsukishima narrows his eyes like he’s not convinced and Akiteru rolls his eyes. “Kei, I swear,” he says. “It’s like the information is logged in two completely separate columns in a spreadsheet, distinction clear as day.” 

The brothers stare each other down for a moment longer. 

“Fine,” Tsukishima says. 

Kuroo looks between them for a moment, confused, but then nods in understanding. Maybe his brother deliberately gave him a silent explanation or maybe enough of their thoughts have trickled out for Kuroo to make sense of things. Either way, the upperclassman doesn’t ask for any clarification. 

“Okay, with that settled, there’s one last bit of information you should probably know, Kei,” Akiteru says. “About your powers… There’s no guarantee but… Look, the professor referred the case to a colleague and, based on what they said, we looked more closely at our family histories. Turns out, there’s a good chance that if you, one day, successfully take a proper mate… Well, your powers would likely be fully under your control. No aura. No effect from looking in your eyes.” 

That’s… that’s actually a lot to take in. 

If the whole mess of Akiteru’s highschool volleyball career has taught him anything, it’s that it’s dangerous to want things. So he’s been oh so careful ever since then. 

The only thing you can trust is what’s right in front of your eyes. It’s only safe to want things you know you can get.

Despite that, in the category of nebulous, dangerous wants, there have always been two things he’d never quite managed to stomp out entirely. 

The desire to, one day, if he found the right person, take a mate.

And the desire to rid himself of his powers. 

Now? Akiteru is telling him that both those things are attainable. And both ride on Kuroo and this decision.

If he’d never looked into his eyes? Well, there’s a chance he might have got those things one day. And if it’s a matter of what he’s willing to give up to get those things? The answer is almost anything. 

What he’s not willing to sacrifice is someone  _ else’s _ happiness. 

As much as he wishes that everything Akiteru has just said would change things, really it hasn’t. The only thing it’s done is shorten the timeline before they have to face the inevitable.

Akiteru doesn’t stay long after that. Before he goes, he lets them know he’s staying with a friend in the city. The training camp is ending tomorrow so they’ll have to decide whether Kuroo will come to Miyagi or Tsukishima will stay in Tokyo until the bond is dealt with. Either way, Akiteru will be around until they know if one of them needs a lift to Sendai. 

“Oh, by the way,” Akiteru says, stopping on his way out, looking back in at them with a hand on the door frame. “Mom and Dad decided to go visit Grandma and Grandpa. They said to tell you they’ll be back in a week or so and that you’ll have the house to yourself until then.” 

He winks at them and then heads out. 

—

Kuroo wants to talk about it. 

Tsukishima doesn’t. 

They argue about it briefly. 

Long enough for Tsukishima to reach a point where he admits he’s experiencing a bit of an information overload and he’s not ready to discuss any of it.

Besides, they’re at an impasse. Kuroo is still saying he doesn’t want to do the spell. Tsukishima is still saying that he can’t see another option. 

They strike a truce. 

They opt to save any discussion for later in favour of giving them both some time to think things through on their own, with the provision that Tsukishima promises to keep an open mind about a workaround and Kuroo promises to think through the consequences of such an enterprise. 

They also decide that, with things up in the air about what they are going to do, it makes more sense for Kuroo to come down to Sendai. It takes a little arm twisting — Tsukishima pointing out that, if they do decide to do the spell, it would be less of a hassle for him to stay in Tokyo an extra day. But Kuroo makes his case — saying that staying in Tokyo might limit their options and pressure them to do the spell — and Tsukishima concedes. 

Once they’ve come to that conclusion, they indulge in another scenting session, which is actually more of a make-out session but it gets the same job done, and then they head off for dinner and free practice. 

The next day passes by in a blur. Karasuno faces off against Fukurodani and, despite losing the set, actually manage to hold their own, proving that everything they’ve been working on is starting to come together. Then the coaches treat them to a barbeque. 

Soon after that, the Karasuno team boards the bus to head home. 

For Tsukishima and Kuroo, this is the real test of the day. 

They make sure to scent properly before Karasuno takes off and they exchange some clothing — Tsukishima has Kuroo’s Nekoma jacket and Kuroo has a T-shirt — because having access to each other’s scent is meant to help stave off bond-induced separation anxiety. 

Nekoma still has a couple of practice matches and a team meeting scheduled after Karasuno’s departure and Kuroo plans to stay for that, and he has to stop by his house to inform his parents and gather what he needs. Then Akiteru will drive him to Miyagi. Meanwhile, Karasuno is meant to have a short meeting once they get home before they part ways. 

All told, they will be apart for almost seven hours. This is the longest the two of them will have been separated since the training camp began though, and that could come with complications. None that are dangerous or life-threatening, mind you, but ones that will test the limits of what they can endure while apart.

And it’s deliberate. If they choose not to go through with the spell, then they both need to have a good idea of what they’d be signing up for. 

On Tsukishima’s end, things are okay at first. He’s the type to fall asleep during long car rides to begin with, so that helps. Though the last couple hours of the trip he experiences a bit of an internal war. He was starting to feel the separation quite a lot, and it only made it worse to think about what Kuroo must be going through. He spends the last hour of the bus ride staring at his duffle, trying to resist the temptation to grab Kuroo’s jacket. 

He manages. Barely. And after sitting through the brief meeting and booking it home as fast as his Vampiric abilities allowed, he shuts the door behind him and dives for his bag, pulling out Kuroo’s jacket and scenting it before putting it on. 

Then he paces. A lot. 

Kuroo and Akiteru both texted when they left Tokyo so he knows they’re probably still an hour or so away. 

Tsukishima checks his phone. Again. For the millionth time. There’s still nothing.

Kuroo had been texting regularly with updates, increasing in frequency until he stopped. Cold. 

The radio silence doesn’t worry Tsukishima. Well, it  _ does _ because, where Kuroo is concerned, the bond is making it so that he can’t help but be a big ball of worry and concern. Tsukishima knows, though, that Akiteru had had a sleep charm at the ready. That way, if Kuroo’s anxiety got to be too much, the charm would let him sleep through the last leg of the journey. 

That last hour is torture. He wishes he could distract himself with something — a video game, music, anything — but he can’t. He can’t do anything but pace, trying to control his breathing as his fingers cramp from how hard his hands are clenched into fists. 

His thoughts aren’t even coherent anymore. They’re just a hazy mess of want and need. He needs Kuroo with him. Now. Right now.

When he hears a key at the door, he’s racing toward the sound before he even knows what he’s doing.

Kuroo meets him half-way, pushing him up against the nearest wall. They exchange needy, heated kisses between scenting. Kuroo’s hands are strong and firm, keeping him in place like he’s afraid Tsukishima will disappear. Tsukishima is just as bad, leg curled around one of Kuroo’s keeping him trapped against him and one hand knotted so tightly in Kuroo’s hair it probably hurts. 

“That wasn’t fun,” Kuroo manages to growl between kisses. “Longest afternoon of my life.”

“You’re telling me,” Tsukshima lets out on a moan and Kuroo dives back in for another deep kiss. 

It takes a while but they start to calm down, passion softening into something more affectionate. Messy kisses turn gentle. Desperate grips ease and turn to caresses. Their frantic need to be close abates as the relief of simply being in each other’s arms washes over them. 

They startle when they hear the doorbell. Then they hear Akiteru answer the door and, apparently, collect a pizza delivery. 

“Oh my god,” Tsukisima says, eyes a little wide and a light flush dusting his cheeks as the pizza delivery makes him realize two things. 

One, they’ve been at this for a while. Long enough for Akiteru to order pizza.

And two? Akiteru is still here. 

It’s not that he’d thought his brother had left. It’s that his thoughts had been completely narrowed to Kuroo and he hadn’t even considered the possibility that anyone else existed, let alone was in the house. And here they’ve been, for upwards of a half-hour, making out in the hall, it turns out. 

They  _ are _ Vampires and, being in the branch of Succubi, some promiscuity is more or less par for the course. But making out like this right in the open in his family home? It’s irregular for him, to say the least. Especially with someone else home. 

“Oh my god,” he repeats and Kuroo chuckles. 

But then the smell of pizza reaches them and their stomachs growl. It’s already pretty late and eating has been the last thing on their mind. Until now. 

They spend a few seconds straightening each other’s clothing and hair before going to find Akiteru in the kitchen. Thankfully, being Vampires comes with some perks and, though they’d been going at it pretty heavily for a while there, any kind of bruising or inflammation fades so quickly that there are no swollen lips or hickeys to add to the embarrassment.

“Figured you guys might eventually want something to eat,” Akiteru says when they finally appear.

“You’re still here,” Tsukishima says in response. 

“Yeah, well there are a few things I was supposed to tell you before I left and, uh, I didn’t really think it was a good idea to interrupt,” Akiteru chuckles. “For now though,” he makes a gesture to the pizza. 

They busy themselves for a few moments gathering plates and glasses, Tsukishima sending a couple of quick mental images of where things are stored Kuroo’s way so he can help too. 

Once they’ve had their fill of pizza, Akiteru fills them in on the last bits of information they need.

He gives them the spell, in case that’s what they decide to do.

He makes sure they see the note Tsukishima’s mom left about the leftovers in the fridge and freezer, as well as making sure they know where she left money for any takeout they might need. 

Then he shows them what’s inside ‘the bag’. 

It’s been sitting on the dining room table the whole time but Tsukishima was too keyed up to notice it was even there, let alone look at what might be inside. 

What’s in it, turns out, is lube — which makes Tsukishima go crimson, a charm meant to prevent mating claims — prudent if they go the scent claim route, another couple meant to prevent heats and ruts — necessary if they decide to do the spell, and a blindfold.

“It’s spelled so it won’t slip off,” Akiteru explains with a wink, laying it down on the table. “That one was my idea. Thought it might set the mood better than your sleep mask if it comes to that.”

Tsukishima then proceeds to attempt to erase the whole interaction from his brain.

Before he leaves, Akiteru helps them test one last thing. The professors who had looked into his case in the past couple of days had had one other theory.

Kuroo can feel his aura a little, that was established. They figured that was a side effect from the bond desperately trying to complete. However, they also theorized that, right up until the bond broke one way or another, Kuroo should be immune to Tsukishima’s eyes. 

Tsukishima had been reluctant to test it out, afraid of what would happen if they were wrong. Kuroo was game though. And the profs had generously written out some notes about their reasoning, complete with a list of few promising sources.

It’s enough to convince Tsukishima that it’s unlikely to make things worse. 

As luck would have it, the precautions they take when they test it out — Akiteru holding Kuroo back and ready to cover his eyes if needed — prove to be unnecessary. This time, when Kuroo looks into his eyes, absolutely nothing happens.

Well, if you discount the fact that Kuroo is watching him with a smirk and eyes so full of heat that Tsukishima starts to feel a little hot around the ears.

Akiteru makes his exit after that, letting them know he’s at his dorm if they need anything. 

The door is barely closed behind him when exhaustion hits them all at once. It’s been a long day.

Tsukishima’s bed isn’t really big enough for two, especially two people as tall as they are. They’re too tired to figure out an alternative though so, after cleaning up and getting ready for bed, they squeeze into the too small space. It’s cramped but it works in their favour because they’re still a little touch starved from the prolonged separation.

And that’s how they fall asleep, Kuroo’s fingers rubbing soothing circles on Tsukishima’s hip.

— 

Tsukishima wakes up and finds that he’s alone in bed. 

Where Kuroo has gone isn’t a big mystery. He can hear him moving around in the kitchen as well as the quiet sizzle of something cooking. 

He pads out to join him, Kuroo turning with a smile when he walks in. 

“I didn’t mean to be presumptuous,” he says, indicating the eggs he’s cooking with a nod of his head, “but I was hungry and I didn’t want to wake you.” 

“‘t’s fine,” Tsukishima mumbles sleepily. “Did you make enough for two?” 

Kuroo answers in the affirmative just as the rice cooker beeps to indicate it’s done. Tsukishima puts the kettle on to boil and then starts taking out plates. By the time he has the table set, the rice plated, and the tea made, Kuroo is just tipping his rolled omelet onto a plate, cutting it into slices and bringing it over. 

“It’s good,” Tsukishima says, almost impressed when he takes a bite. 

“It’s just seasoned with soy sauce and a little sugar,” Kuroo says, hand coming to the back of his neck like he’s embarrassed. “I didn’t want to poke around too much.” 

They keep eating in silence. It could have been awkward. In fact, Tsukishima is so used to watching Kuroo’s effortless socializing — all banter, flirtation and teasing — that he almost expects that it  _ would _ be awkward to sit here with neither of them talking. But it’s not. Instead, the silence is comfortable, the ease of two people content to exist together. 

Which is nice, but also a little scary because it reminds him that he and Kuroo really don’t know each other that well. It’s a little alarming to think he’s here, just discovering how easy and pleasant it is to simply sit across the table from Kuroo, and yet there’s this big, important decision that will affect the whole course of their lives looming over them.

“You’re wearing your glasses,” Kuroo says after a moment, stopping Tsukishima’s thoughts in their track and keeping him from spiralling. “Wasn’t sure whether you would, since, you know…”

Tsukishima unconsciously brings a hand up to touch the frames. “Force of habit,” he says with a shrug. “Besides, it’s safer. Wouldn’t want to accidentally set the mailman on fire.” Kuroo raises an eyebrow. “He’s an Ifrit,” Tsukishima explains. “Fire won’t hurt him, of course. Can’t say the same for the mail, though.” 

They keep up the conversation as they finish, Kuroo having a knack of saying the right things at exactly the right time to keep Tsukishima from dwelling on the Conversation they have to have later. He’s not sure whether that fact is attributable to mere coincidence, mind-reading, or just good people skills but, whatever it is, he’s grateful for it. 

Forty-five minutes later, once breakfast is finished and cleared away, Tsukishima knows it’s definitely a mix of the latter two. They’re dressed now and sitting on the couch. Then Kuroo aims a look at him and Tsukishima just knows: Kuroo has purposely been keeping him calm and level-headed to make this part easier. 

“We have to talk about it,” he says, voice gentle like he’s afraid Tsukishima will spook.

It’s a thoughtful precaution but, as much as the thought of this conversation freaks him out, Tsukishima is rational enough to realize they’ve run out of time. There are no two ways about it, this conversation needs to happen. And it needs to happen now. 

“The spell is the only safe bet,” he says, getting right into it. “It’s the only option where we’re sure of the outcome and it’s the only way we get to be in control.”

If he’s being honest, his thoughts have been all over the place in the last couple of days, but those are the words he keeps coming back to. 

Safe. Sure.  _ Control. _

Kuroo doesn’t come right back with a rebuttal. He watches him. 

“And what happens after?” he asks after a while. Tsukishima frowns at him, confused. “We break the bond for good. Then what?” he elaborates.

“We go back to our separate lives, I suppose,” Tsukishima answers. “Continue on as if none of this ever happened.” 

“And if I don’t want that?” Kuroo asks. “If I want to date you? Call you my boyfriend? If I want to keep you in my life and see where this thing might go?” 

“If we do the spell, this  _ thing _ isn’t going to go anywhere,” Tsukishima says. “We won’t be able to bond. We’ll just be wasting our time.” 

Kuroo frowns. “Until a few nights ago, you thought you were never going to be able to bond with anyone,” Kuroo says. “If you had met someone you wanted to spend your life with, were you really going to let the lack of a bond stop you?” 

Tsukishima pauses. “No,” he answers. Not everyone bonds. Not all Vamps end up with other Vamps, so sometimes it’s off the table entirely. He’s always known that.

“How is this different?” Kuroo says. 

“Because we  _ could _ have bonded,” Tsukishima says. “Nevermind that long-distance relationships hardly ever work. And nevermind that people rarely end up with people they start dating in high school. If we were to beat those odds? Then we’d be living with the regret that we made the wrong decision, that we could have had more.”

“If we got to that point, wouldn’t that just mean we chose each other?” Kuroo asks. “You assume we would be wallowing in regret but isn’t it possible we might just be happy to be together?” 

“Maybe,” Tsukishima says. “Or maybe, even worse than being plagued by regret for the rest of our lives, we’ll hold on to a charade of a relationship out of some twisted belief that we’re meant to be together. Meanwhile, we’ll miss out on people and opportunities that could have actually made us happy.”

“You’re really optimistic, you know that?” Kuroo teases. 

“It’s possible,” Tsukishima huffs. 

“Fine, you’re right. It’s possible,” Kuroo concedes with an eye roll. “But I’m not suggesting any of this out of some misplaced sense of duty or destiny. In case you didn’t get the message, I like you Tsukishima Kei. I have since before I knew bonding with you was possible.” 

Tsukishima stops for a moment, thinking about that. 

“I’m not the mind reader here, so swear you’ll be honest,” Tsukishima says with a frown. 

“Always.” 

“Before any of this happened,” he starts. “You had your rut, broke up with your girlfriend and then decided to make a move on me. What were you after? You can’t expect me to believe you were planning a long-term, long-distance relationship.” 

“No, I wasn’t,” Kuroo admits. “And, to clarify, I didn’t immediately decide to ‘make a move’ on you when I broke up with Shizu. At that time, I didn’t even know for sure that I’d ever see you again.” He runs a hand through his hair. “When you guys came up to Tokyo a couple of weeks ago… Yeah, I was watching you a little more carefully. And then last week? I mean, I knew I wanted to make a move. I didn’t know what I wanted out of it, though. A few days of fun? Sure. I was open to the possibility it might turn into more but… It’s like you said. Long-distance is hard. I wasn’t exactly planning on it.”

“What’s different now then?” Tsukishima asks with a frown. “Aside from the obvious, what changed to make you think that giving us a shot is worth the trouble?” 

“Well, for the record, ‘the obvious’ hadn’t happened yet,” he starts. “You know the night I made you storm off, angry?” he asks. Tsukishima nods. “It’s not like I never get things wrong or make mistakes but, misreading a situation so badly, that was a first for me. It might not even seem like I did misread things that much but… To me it was a big deal. It made me realize a few things. For one? I was so caught up in looking at you that, for once, I was looking  _ just  _ at you and I forgot to factor in other people. And, yeah, it was a shock that I wasn’t able to manipulate you to do what I wanted. More than that, though, I realized that I didn’t want to be  _ manipulating _ you. I just wanted you to be there, to be practicing with me because you  _ wanted _ to be there. The disappointment, or rather the sense of loss I felt when you walked out? It went so far beyond that… I knew that a few stolen moments between us might be fun. But I didn’t want that. I wanted you to stay. I wanted you to  _ choose _ to stay.”

He pauses and takes a breath. 

“My powers are useful,” he says. “They have a long history of getting me what I want. This time though… I wanted you and I didn’t want my powers or my manipulations to have anything to do with it. You go on and on about regret… I’m here to tell you that, I’ve been thinking about what I’d regret since before we got stuck in this situation. Forget this bond or the spell, if there’s one thing I know I’ll regret it’s not giving us a shot.”

Tsukishima watches him wearily for a moment.

“That’s really what you want? We do the spell and then take a chance at a relationship that has a minuscule chance of being successful?” he asks. 

“No,” Kuroo answers without hesitating. “Given a choice, I don’t want to do the spell at all. I want to give us a shot and I don’t want to have to sacrifice the possibility of a bond sometime in the future.” 

Tsukishima frowns. “After all that talk about how not having a bond wouldn’t matter?” 

Kuroo lets out a sigh. “Look, being able to bond would be nice,” he admits. “Especially for you, since it would take care of your powers.” Tsukishima is about to cut in but Kuroo raises a hand to stall him. “But it’s not about the ability to bond, not in itself,” he continues. “You’re right when you say that ‘what could’ve been’ will always be hanging over our heads. It doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to try but, as you said, it would be adding yet another complication on top of an already complicated relationship. I told you, what I want is to give us a shot — the best shot we can give it. That means not doing the spell, not adding that extra barrier.”

“And if the relationship falls flat right out of the gate?” Tsukishima asks. “If, a week from now, we realize it’s not going to work but we’re still stuck riding this partial bond out for months?”

Kuroo aims a serious look at him. “I could live with that,” he says. 

Tsukishima looks dubious. 

“I’m serious,” Kuroo says. “I would rather give it my best shot, fail and live with the consequences than do something irreversible and spend the rest of my life wondering if I made the right choice. You talk about the spell like it’s the only option that guarantees us a win. I don’t see it that way. To me, the spell is a lose-lose solution. If we give us a shot and it works, then we’ll regret having done the spell. And if we don’t work out? I don’t know about you but I’d always wonder whether, if we’d never done it, we could have had something great.”

Tsukishima takes that in. “So you’d rather try a scent claim, then?” he says quietly, picking at his nails. “Even if we’re not sure it will work.” 

Kuroo lifts a finger to his chin and turning his head to make him look into his eyes before he answers. “If you’re willing, I don’t see a downside to attempting it,” he says. “But sex is a big deal in it’s own way. I don’t want to pressure you in that way. What I’m saying is, whether we attempt a scent claim or not, and whether it works or not, I’d rather not use the spell to break the bond.” 

They watch each other quietly for a while. 

“Here’s the thing,” Kuroo says after a time. “When it comes to what each of us wants? The power is actually in the other person’s hands. You can’t do the spell unless I agree to do it with you. And I can’t date you unless you want it too. That puts us into a bit of a bind. It would be really easy to ensure that neither of us gets what we want.

“That said,” he continues, “I have no interest in holding you hostage in that way. If you want to do the spell, I’ll do it. No strings attached. I’m not going to try to bribe you or make some kind of deal.” 

“I still feel like there’s a ‘but’ involved,” Tsukishima says.

“There is,” Kuroo says with a little smirk. “A couple of days ago, you told me I still had time to convince you there was a better option. I think I’ve made my case. Now, you have to convince  _ me _ you actually want to do the spell. If you can do that, I’ll give in.”

Tsukishima breathes out. “I already told you I think the spell is the best option,” he says. “What else do you want? An interpretive dance?”

Kuroo chuckles. “See, you did it again,” he says. “You keep saying you think we  _ should _ do the spell. You haven’t once really said you want to.” 

“I want to do the spell,” Tsukishima says, deadpan.

“I’m not convinced,” Kuroo says with a wink. Tsukishima lets out a frustrated huff and Kuroo’s expression softens into something more genuine and less teasing. “I’m serious,” Kuroo says again. “Everything you’ve said about why you want to do it… It’s all valid. But you keep talking about what would be easiest. And I think you’re not even worried for yourself. I think you’re afraid to cause  _ me _ trouble. I’m here saying, if it means not going through with it, cause me as much trouble as you want. I’m okay with it. What I’m not okay with is going through with an easy but costly and permanent solution. Not if neither of us actually want it.”

He takes a breath and kisses Tsukishima lightly. 

“I’m not going to make you jump through hoops, here,” he says. “I just want you to take a minute to think about everything I’ve said, to really try to understand that I mean it when I say I don’t care about the consequences. If, after all that, you’re still telling me you want to do the spell then… so be it.” 

Kuroo watches him for another minute, perhaps waiting to catch enough from whatever thoughts are leaking out of Tsukishima’s head to satisfy him that his words have had the intended effect. 

When Tsukishima’s thoughts start circling back to ‘Need to talk to Yamaguchi’, Kuroo gets up. Without any words, Kuroo understands that what Tsukishima needs right now is to be left alone with his thoughts.

“I’m going to go for a short run,” he says. He’s already dressed for it.

Tsukishima nods distractedly, sinking deeper into the couch and lost in the mess in his head. A minute or so later, he distantly hears the front door open and close.

The thing is… Kuroo is right. He can’t truly say he wants to do the spell. 

It’s complicated though. If they don’t do it, there’s a good chance Kuroo’s senior year of high school will be completely ruined. Kuroo says he’s okay with that but there’s no way around the fact that costing Kuroo his last chance at nationals and screwing up his academics right when he’s preparing for college exams… well it would weigh on both of them and on any relationship they might try for, a barrier in its own way. The alternative? Tsukishima could uproot his own life and transfer out to Tokyo for the remainder of the school year. In comparison, that’s a better option — except that it would mean uprooting Yamaguchi’s life too. He still needs Yamaguchi’s shield.

He doesn’t know how long he’s been going in circles with these thoughts since Kuroo’s been gone. Eventually, the need to talk to Yamaguchi about all this is so central he gets up and finds his phone. 

_ “Tsukki,”  _ his friend picks up on the first ring.  _ “You guys doing okay?” _

Tsukishima doesn’t answer for a second. Then launches into a summary of everything Kuroo had told him. 

Yamaguchi stays quiet on his end. It’s strange enough for Tsukishima to be saying this many words in one go and he must sense it’s better to let him get it all out. 

_ “So,”  _ Yamaguchi says when he’s been quiet for a few moments.  _ “ _ Do _ you want to do the spell?”  _

“I-,” Tsukishima starts and pauses, pushing his glasses up as he closes his eyes. “It’s not fair. If we don’t do the bond-breaking spell, it could cost him a lot. One stupid spell cast by one of my ancestors and now he’s stuck with me for God knows how long.”

Yamaguchi is quiet for another moment.  _ “Sounds to me like he’s okay with being stuck,”  _ he says.  _ “Why are you so sure that’s a bad thing?” _

“You know me,” Tsukishima scoffs. “You know how I am. Being stuck with me is not exactly winning the lottery. I kind of feel like I cursed him or something.” 

There’s a quiet sound on Yamaguchi’s end that sounds like a chuckle.  _ “Tsukki, you’re really smart but sometimes your focus narrows so much that you miss the really obvious things.”  _

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Tsukishima says. 

_ “You know, I always felt like I did win the lottery,” _ Yamaguchi says with some fond amusement.

“What?”

_ “One of your ancestors cast a spell, a different spell, and now I’m stuck with you,”  _ Yamaguchi says. Tsukishima can practically hear him smiling as he says it.  _ “But you know what, you’re also stuck with me. I understand what you’re saying. I really do. Because for a long time I felt, I dunno, guilty that I, of all people, ended being your shield. You were so cool and I was so… not. So there I was, sentencing you to a lifetime of a tagalong lame-wad you didn’t want anything to do with.”  _

Tsukishima frowns. “That’s not…” He’s not really sure how to end the sentence, doesn’t know the right words to express just how wrong that is. Luckily, Yamaguchi just laughs. 

_ “I know, _ ” he says.  _ “Look, the point is, the being stuck together thing? It’s mutual. And I always felt I won the lottery. I was a friendless loser. A crybaby and a pushover. Meeting you? It changed my life. You were exactly the best friend I needed. After a while, I started to realize that might go both ways.” _

“It does.” 

_ “See?”  _ Yamaguchi says.  _ “It would be easy to think of the spell as something that doomed us and unfairly shackled us to each other. I don’t think of it like that though. It took two people that needed each other and made sure we found each other. You know as well as I do that dealing with your power as your shield has not always been easy but, from the moment I met you, I have not once resented the fact that we came together because of a spell. Take it from someone who knows: Being stuck with you because of a spell is not a curse.”  _

They’re both quiet for a moment. 

_ “I don’t see why it would be any different with Kuroo,”  _ Yamaguchi says.  _ “You keep thinking about what it’s costing you. Isn’t it possible that, at the end of the day, all of this just means you’re good for each other? Isn’t that worth some risk? Maybe a little bit of hurt?” _

“To you too?” Tsukishima asks.

_ “Me?” _

Tsukishima then launches into his rant about how there’s a possibility that this whole thing will mean the both of them moving to Tokyo. 

And Yamaguchi just laughs. 

_ “I’m way ahead of you on that one,”  _ his friend admits.  _ “Tsukki, I already told you. I need you just as much as you need me. You’re my best friend. Moving to help you deal with this? It’s barely an inconvenience. Do  _ not _ let me be a factor in this. Honestly? I’d rather deal with the hassle of moving than have to deal with you second-guessing yourself for the rest of our lives.”  _

He hears Kuroo come back in then and, from the sound of things, head for the shower. 

Tsukishima makes a few counterarguments about how none of this is fair to Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi rebuts along the lines that it’s not really fair to any of them but, if the ‘shield’ spell is anything to go by, he trusts that, after everything is said and done, if they have to move then it’s probably for the best. His conversation with Yamaguchi is over soon after.

When he hangs up, he hears Kuroo exit the shower and head to the bedroom. 

He takes a deep breath and a moment to steel himself then he stands and goes to find Kuroo.

He’s done thinking.

He knows what he wants to do. Now, he just needs to go through with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so the next chapter is already in the works! I'm not promising when it'll be up this time because I keep breaking those promises! It should be soon though! 
> 
> I can say definitively though that the next chapter will be (*** spoiler alert maybe? ***) pretty smutty. And it will be the last chapter. For real this time. :p
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this one!
> 
> And for some other world TL;DR mechanics that I didn't really elaborate on in the story:
> 
> I realize that, though they are Vampires... they only ever eat and no one ever drinks any blood 'on screen'. Honestly? It's occurred to me but every time I've tried to write it in it feels forced and ends with me just staring at the screen endlessly. So, in the name of moving forward with the story, I'm just omitting any nutritional blood drinking... Either way, my vampire mechanics are that they do eat like humans and, while they do 'need' to drink blood, they don't need that much of it. I figure it doesn't really add anything to issues they're dealing with to emphasize the Vamp-ness by including the blood-drinking so... I just didn't. There you have it!


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